Amy Sellick And The Year Of The Werewolf
by allamericanchic
Summary: Amy Sellick is going to begin her second year at Hogwarts. Everything is all fine and dandy, until a vicious prisoner escapes from a famous wizard prison and her D.A.D.A. teacher may be a werewolf. This is the second volume in the "Amy Sellick" series.
1. Going Back

Author's Note: Yay! Here it is, the second installment of Amy Sellick's adventures at Hogwarts Academy! I had a lot of fun writing the last one, Amy Sellick And The Year Of The Basilisk. This one's called Amy Sellick And The Year Of The Werewolf. If you haven't read the first one, please do. You'll like it a lot, you _Harry Potter _fans! I love _Harry Potter _too; it's probably my favorite thing to write FanFics for. I love writing about Amy's adventures. Please read, favorite, and review!

DISCLAIMER: I do not own _Harry Potter _or its characters. They belong to J.K. Rowling.

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1. Going Back

It was two days just before I would start my second year at Hogwarts. The Weasleys just returned from Egypt and Ginny, Ron and I were helping ourselves to delicious ice cream from Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor. We weren't shopping here at Diagon Alley now, though (the Weasleys were going to shop tomorrow). We were just hanging out. Later I would sleep over at their place. I would have to leave tomorrow morning though because they were going to stay at the Leaky Cauldron for the night before school started.

All my shopping was done. There was a particularly odd book called _The Monster Book of Monsters _that we were required to keep for Care of Magical Creatures, which was going to be taught by Rubeus Hagrid this year instead of Silvanis Kettleburn again. I was very excited about this (since my friends and I were fans of Hagrid's) and Kettleburn wasn't the best. The thing about _The Monster Book of Monsters_ was that it attacked you unless you stroked it.

There was a buzz going on around that Harry Potter blew up his Muggle aunt like a balloon but the Ministry of Magic was going to let him slide and not expel him from Hogwarts. There was also a buzz about Sirius Black, a vicious serial killer who worked for You-Know-Who and was planning to kill Harry Potter. No matter how many defense spells you knew, the wizard world wasn't totally safe.

"I wish we could run into Harry," said Ginny. She was having strawberry ice cream. I was having vanilla. Ron was having chocolate.

"Me too," said Ron. "He's staying at the Leaky Cauldron, I think…I'm not sure, though. It's Dad; he works for the Ministry. He would know that."

"My dad works for the Ministry too," I reminded them. "He knows that also."

"Do you think we should go to the Leaky Cauldron?" Ginny asked.

"Oh, no," Ron replied. "We don't want to look like we stalked him. Tomorrow it will be more necessary since we're going to stay there anyway."

"What time is it?" I wanted to know since we were going to have to go back to the Weasleys' soon.

"I'm not sure," said Ron. He looked around for a clock tower.

"There you are, dears!" exclaimed Mrs. Weasley. Then she, Mr. Weasley, Fred and George came over to our table. "We've been wondering where you were," said Mrs. Weasley.

"But we weren't worried," Mr. Weasley assured us. "We didn't think Sirius Black would just randomly appear out of nowhere with everyone watching. He would want his attack to be a secret."

Ginny gave me a frightened look when Mr. Weasley said the name, but I shot her back an assuring look.

"Hey, Ron!" said Fred. "Could I have the rest of your ice cream?"

"Yes, please!" agreed George. "We do love chocolate!"

"No!" Ron snapped, looking horrified. "I need to finish it first!" He was just about to finish his ice cream when he realized Scabbers, his ill rat was eating it instead. Scabbers was thinner than usual and his whiskers drooped, which was not so in the past. Ron told me that Egypt got the best of his poor rat. That's probably why it was eating- it was starving, the ugly little thing.

"Let's start home now," said Mrs. Weasley. We traveled back to the Weasley home by Floo powder. When we were there our faces were covered by chimney cinders. Ginny and I took one look at each other and burst into laughter. Ron didn't find it so funny.

"What?" he said.

"Look at you, Ron," said Ginny. "Look at your face."

"So?" said Ron. He walked away and shook his head.

"So what was the ice cream like, Amy?" asked Fred. He and George kneeled down on the ground around me. "Which flavor did you get?"

"Simply vanilla," I replied.

"So you didn't have any of the new flavors?" George wanted to know.

"What new flavors?" Ginny was curious to know.

"Like sugar and spice…" George listed.

"Ketchup and mustard…" Fred continued.

"And buttermilk," George finished.

Ginny made a face. "No, thanks." She started off.

"Yes, I think I'll skip," I agreed. I followed her upstairs.

Ginny and I were in her bedroom dressed in our pajamas. I had my sleeping bag out, but it wasn't finished yet. I lifted my very short wand in the air (it often made me feel inferior how the wand for me at Ollivander's was a very small wand) and turned my sleeping bag into a comfortable bed. "Good job," said Ginny. We gave each other high fives.

We heard Ron fart loudly in his room. "Oh, don't tell me he's eating all of the Chocolate Frogs!" I exclaimed.

"I think he already _has_," Ginny pointed out. We played games like wizard chess (which Ron had taught me), wand-waving charades, _Go Mermaid_, and even extreme Twister. At the end of all of that we were ready to get some sleep. But we didn't sleep right away though; we gossiped. Gossiped about people at Hogwarts. Gossiped about boys (I never bothered mentioning Draco Malfoy's name once). Gossiped about the good and the bad. Soon enough we drifted off to sleep.

The next morning we heard the doorbell ring. "Heavens, _no_!" Ginny exclaimed. She pulled me out of my sleeping bag bed and pushed me behind one of her dressers. "They can't see you!"

"Why not?" I asked.

"You need to stay!" she replied. "We've had so much fun!"

"Yes, we have, but we're going to see each other again tomorrow," I reminded her.

Ginny looked embarrassed. "Right," she said. Then she sighed reluctantly. "Alright. Your parents can take you home." I chuckled. We took turns to get dressed in the very small, cramped bathroom before we went downstairs. When we went downstairs I saw Mum and Dad at the door. Dad was wearing an elaborate, decorative cloak. He was reminding me more and more of Lucius Malfoy this summer. He was probably powerfully influenced by his dress style.

"Amy!" Dad exclaimed, his green eyes shimmering merrily. He spread his arms out for me to hug him. "Come here, darling!"

"_Dad_," I said quietly, hugging him. "Not so loud."

"Oh, right," he said, mussing my hair. When would he ever learn?

"Thank you, kindly, Mrs. Weasley, for letting my daughter stay the night," said Mum, putting her hand on my shoulder.

"You're very welcome, Mrs. Sellick!" Mrs. Weasley replied, putting her arm around Ginny. "If the school year wasn't starting again we'd have her come over again and again! She is such a joy!"

"Goodbye, now!" said Dad, waving at Mr. Weasley. Ginny and I hugged.

"Bye, Amy," said Ron, patting me on the shoulder.

"Goodbye, Ron," I said.

"See you soon, Amy!" Fred and George said together.

"Bye, you guys!" I replied when both of them hugged me. I hugged them back. Then I left, even though I wasn't ready to leave.

Before going to King's Cross Station so I could board the Hogwarts Express the next day I got dressed into a t-shirt and jeans. "Amy!" called Dad. "You don't want to run late like you did last year, do you? Come down!"

I had everything I needed (like my robes, books, and even my owl Silvermist) ready with me as I thundered down the stairs. Then we drove to King's Cross Station. I had already broken through the barrier between platforms nine and ten. There I found Ginny, who was laughing with Harry Potter. I saw why they were laughing at once: Percy Weasley walking up to his girlfriend, Penelope Clearwater.

"Ginny!" I called, running up to her. She looked up, a gleam of joy in her brown eyes. She hugged me and then grabbed my wrist.

"Come on, now!" she said. We ran toward the end of the train. I waved one last time goodbye to my parents. Mrs. Weasley walked up to Ginny and kissed her. Then she gripped my shoulder and said bye. I noticed Harry talking to Mr. Weasley. I only heard the last part of their conversation.

"I'm not," said Harry. "_Really_. I'm not trying to be a hero, but seriously, Sirius Black can't be worse than Voldemort, can he?"

Mr. Weasley flinched. Not as badly as I did though. Harry had the courage to actually speak You-Know-Who's name, which was _Voldemort_. "Harry, I knew you were, well, made of stronger stuff than Fudge seems to think, and I'm obviously pleased that you're not scared, but-" Mr. Weasley began.

"Arthur!" called Mrs. Weasley, kind of hurting my ears since she was standing right next to me. "Arthur, what are you doing? It's about to go!"

"He's coming, Molly!" Mr. Weasley called back. He turned to Harry and continued talking to him, as Harry continued speaking to him.

"Arthur, quickly!" cried Mrs. Weasley. I just noticed that guards were walking along the train, slamming the doors shut. The train started to move so Harry ran to the compartment door and Ron threw it open and stood back to let him on. We all leaned out the window and waved at Mr. and Mrs. Weasley until the train turned a corner and we couldn't see them anymore.

"I need to talk to you in private," Harry muttered to Ron and Hermione Granger (who was here the whole time).

"Go away, Ginny," said Ron. "And you too, Amy."

"Oh, that's nice," said Ginny huffily, taking me by the arm. She and I walked down the corridor, searching for a compartment. "Excuse me!" Ginny shouted as she elbowed her way through the crowd. "Coming through! Need somewhere to sit before it's too late!"

Just then someone bumped into me. "Wow, Sellick," they said. "I didn't know you were _that_ clumsy. That should be no surprise, though. I always knew your father was a klutz, even if he is all buddy-buddy with my dad."

I recognized this voice almost at once. It belonged to Draco Malfoy, the boy I dreaded the most at Hogwarts. He was so arrogant and always came up with ways to insult others, especially those who he felt were inferior to him. But that wasn't the thing I hated most. The thing I hated most was that I was attracted to him and I couldn't fight it. I looked up into his cold gray eyes, which were glaring down into mine. I could see his beautiful white-blond hair and remembered why I liked him so much. He was beginning to look more like a young man and less like a teenager.

"Shut up, _Malfoy_," Ginny snarled, spitting at his last name.

"Hey, _Weasel_," said Malfoy, smirking with cruel amusement. "Lucky you. Your father finally got his hands on some gold this summer. I'm sure he had to work himself to death, though, didn't he?'

"Actually, it was quite easy since he is a very hard worker," Ginny replied.

"_Hard_ worker?" Draco repeated. "So you're saying it _was _hard?" His two huge friends thick-necked Crabbe and gorilla-ish Goyle snickered stupidly.

"So you're saying _you're_ a slacker?" Ginny snapped at him quickly, gripping my arm even harder and marching through the corridors. "There's gotta be somewhere we can sit!" I didn't respond or try to help her find somewhere to sit. Instead I was too shocked; I didn't know Ginny had it in her to talk back to Malfoy. Last year she had seemed so weak to him.

"Ginny!" I heard someone call. I recognized this voice too. It belonged to our roommate, cliquish Florence Tolliver. She always welcomed a close relationship with Ginny, but not with me. I wondered why she had something against me. "Do you wish to sit with us?" I looked around her. Then I saw her popular friend Madeleine Meander, and her best friend Veruca Ambry, the Wicked Witch of London's East End. She was as pleasant as usual, scowling with her arms crossed.

Veruca didn't seem too excited to be going back to Hogwarts. That was because last year when I got in trouble with the caretaker Argus Filch, I told him my name was Veruca Ambry and he had been blaming her ever since for staying out of bed after hours. She had to spend one week's detention with him this summer.

There was another girl with them. I guessed it was a first year, even though first years weren't really supposed to sit with older students. We were in the Gryffindor compartments, and since the first years didn't have their houses determined they couldn't just sit there. She had dark eyes, dark hair, and a pointed chin. She was wearing an arrogant smile.

"Sure…" said Ginny quietly. "Who is she?"

"She's my best friend slash neighbor," Florence replied, throwing her arm around the girls' shoulders. "Her name is Romilda Vane. I know, I know, you can't really sit with the first years, but we sort of just snuck her in."

"Nice to meet you, _Ginny_," said the girl, putting her hand out for Ginny to shake it. Ginny shook it. "Who is your friend?" Romilda's smile faded as she looked up at me. I had no clue why.

"Amy Sellick…?" I said making a face.

"Oh, hello," said Romilda, looking away quickly. She continued speaking to Florence.

"Do you wish to sit here?" Ginny asked me.

I shrugged. "Sure," I lied. "Doesn't really matter."

Ginny took a seat next to Madeleine. Good thing too since Madeleine was the nicest one in the compartment. The train was already moving. Some Gryffindor boys ran by. "Ha ha!" one laughed with his friends. He took a double take at our compartment and stopped moving. "Uh…hi," he said waving shyly.

"Hi, there, Landon," said Veruca, her solemn expression becoming flirty.

"Yes, hello, Veruca," the boy repeated. "Who is your new friend there?"

"That's Romilda Vane, Landon," said Florence, rubbing her neighbor's shoulder. "She's a first year, but she snuck in with us."

"So she's a bad girl, eh?" he asked, walking up to Romilda and smiling down at her. She stared back up at him. I rolled my eyes and rested my face on my hand. "Hey, John!" he called, waving one of his friends over. "Meet Romilda!"

"Wow!" said John, looking down at Romilda with excitement. "Are you a first year, Romilda?"

"Yes, _Jonathan_," she replied with a flirtatious wink. "I know all about you."

John looked as if he were in a trance. "Wicked," he said. Then he and Landon both sat down in our compartment, talking to every girl but me.

"I could vomit," Ginny whispered to me just before Landon said her name.

"Are you Ginny Weasley?" he asked.

"Yes," she replied.

"I can't believe we didn't get to know you last year," he said. "Whenever I tried to say hi to you, you were always off in a hurry. I still wonder about that."

Ginny didn't say anything. I knew why. It was because she had Tom Riddle's diary, which possessed her. Tom Riddle turned out to be the dark memory of You-Know-Who. He possessed both Ginny and me to open a Chamber of Secrets, but that is a whole other story.

The train was moving slower and slower. Then it stopped with a jolt. Our luggage had fallen out of the racks and all the lamps went out. The train was dim and black now. Romilda Vane screamed.

"What's going on?" asked Florence, her voice shaking.

"I've got to go," said Ginny. "I need to look for Ron."

"I'll go with you," I said.

"Alright," she said. "Come on!" Good. I wasn't going to stay in the compartment with that intolerable, self-absorbed clique.

"I'm going to go and ask the driver what's going on," I heard Hermione's voice announce. Hermione slid the door open and it ran over both Ginny's feet and my feet. We squealed with pain. "Who's that?" said Hermione.

"Who's _that_?" asked Ginny.

"Ginny? Amy?"

"Hermione?"

"What are you doing?"

"I was looking for Ron…" said Ginny.

"Come and sit down," said Hermione. When we went in the room I could make out shapes- Harry, Ron, and Hermione weren't the only ones in the room. There was also round-faced and forgetful Neville Longbottom, golden-haired and spunky Carly Perry, and a cat (which made me uncomfortable since I wasn't fond of cats so much). Ginny almost sat on Harry.

"Not here!" said Harry hurriedly. "_I'm_ here!"

I accidentally stepped on Neville's foot. "Ouch!" he cried.

"Sorry," I said quietly.

There was a stranger sitting in the corner of their compartment. He had just awaken from a deep sleep. He was a man with an extremely shabby set of wizard's robes. He looked exhausted and pale. He was young, but his light brown hair was graying. No one spoke. "Stay where you are!" he said in a hoarse voice when there was a soft, crinkling noise. A shivering light filled the compartment, so that's why I was able to see his face. He went over to the door but it opened slowly.

I wanted to scream, but no sound could come out of my mouth. My heart beat so quickly and my breaths were so shallow I thought I was going to die of fright. I was able to make the image out since the man was holding up his wand and lighting up the room. It was a cloaked figure that towered to the ceiling. Its face was hidden by its hood. All of a sudden a hand came out of the cloak. It was glistening, grayish, slimy-looking and scabbed. It looked like something that was dead and could've decayed in water…

Its covered head turned to Harry and it pulled its hand back into its cloak. Then it drew in a long, slow breath, as if it was trying to suck in more than just air. Then the most horrible thing happened; the room became colder as it glided toward Harry. His eyes rolled up into his head and the cloaked figure was roaring.

"None of us is hiding Sirius Black under our cloaks," said the man wearing shabby robes. "Go." It didn't go, so he muttered, "_Expecto Patronum_." Then a silvery thing came out of his wand and the horrid cloaked figure disappeared. The lights were back on and the train started moving again. Harry had fallen asleep on the floor. "Hello, children," said the man. "I am Professor Remus Lupin. I am going to be teaching Defense Against The Dark Arts this year, if you were curious."

"Hello, Professor Lupin," Neville said, shell-shocked by the whole situation.

"Harry! Harry!" cried Hermione, slapping Harry's face. "Are you all right?"

"W-what?" said Harry. He blinked his brilliant green eyes open to see Hermione and Ron kneeling beside him. They heaved him back into his seat.

"Are you okay?" Ron asked nervously.

"Yeah," said Harry, glancing up at the door. "What happened? Where's that- that thing? Who screamed?"

"No one screamed," said Ron, now sounding even more nervous.

Harry's eyes darted from Neville, to Carly, to Ginny, to me. "But I heard screaming…" he disagreed. We all jumped. Professor Lupin was breaking an enormous slab of chocolate into pieces.

"Here," he said, giving Harry a particularly large piece. "Eat it. It'll help."

"What was that thing?" Harry asked Lupin.

"A dementor," said Lupin, now giving us each a piece of chocolate. I didn't particularly like chocolate, but since I was hungry enough I ate it. "One of the dementors of Azkaban," Lupin continued. We all stared at him. Lupin crumpled the chocolate wrapper and stuffed it into his pocket. "Eat," he repeated. "It'll help. I need to speak to the driver, excuse me…" He slid the door open and left.

"Are you sure you're okay, Harry?" asked Hermione.

"I don't get it…What happened?" said Harry, wiping sweat away from his face.

"Well-that thing- the dementor- stood there and looked around (I mean, I think it did, I couldn't see its face)- and you- you-"

"I thought you were having a fit or something," said Ron, still looking shaken. "You went sort of rigid and fell out of your seat and started twitching."

"And Professor Lupin stepped over you, and walked toward the dementor, and pulled out his wand," said Hermione, "and he said, 'None of us is hiding Sirius Black under our cloaks. Go.' But the dementor didn't move, so Lupin muttered something, and a silvery thing shot out of his wand at it, and it turned around and sort of glided away…"

"It was horrible," said Neville, his voice very high-pitched. "Did you feel how cold it got when it came in?"

"Yea," Carly agreed. "It felt like sitting in a freezer. Or even worse."

"I felt weird," said Ron, shifting his shoulders uncomfortably. "Like I'd never be cheerful again…"

Ginny was huddled in a corner. She gave a small sob. Hermione and I put comforting arms around her.

"But didn't any of you- fall out of your seats?" Harry asked awkwardly.

"No," Ron said anxiously. "Ginny was shaking like mad, though…"

Professor Lupin came back. "I haven't poisoned that chocolate, you know," he said to Harry with a small smile. Harry took a bite. "We'll be at Hogwarts in ten minutes. Are you all right, Harry?"

"Fine," Harry muttered. We didn't speak for the rest of the ride.

The train stopped at Hogsmeade station. People were pouring out of the train everywhere. There was sleet falling from the sky, so it was freezing cold. "Firs' years this way!" called the familiar voice of Rubeus Hagrid. He was at the other end of the platform calling over the terrified-looking first years, like Romilda Vane. It was almost too familiar. They would arrive at Hogwarts in boats.

We all ran out of the platform and out onto a rough mud track, where at least a hundred stagecoaches awaited us. They were pulled by invisible horses because when we climbed inside and shut the door, the coach set off all by itself, bumping and swaying in procession. The carriages made its way toward a pair of iron gaits, flanked with stone columns topped with winged boars. Two dementors were standing guard on either side, which made the air even colder.

When the carriage came to a halt we all ran to the castle. Malfoy pushed Hermione to block Harry's way up the stone steps. His pale eyes glinted wickedly in the night light. "You _fainted_, Potter?" he asked cruelly. "Is Longbottom telling the truth? You actually _fainted_?"

"Shove off, Malfoy," said Ron with his jaw clenched.

"Did you faint as well, Weasley?" Malfoy asked loudly. "Did the scary old dementor frighten you too, Weasley?"

"Leave them alone, _Malfoy_!" Carly hissed.

"It probably just offends you, Perry," Draco snapped, "because it probably frightened you _too_, I have no doubt."

"Is there a problem?" Lupin asked quietly. He came out of the last carriage.

Malfoy stared at him insolently, looking as if he would puke from the sight of his shabby robes. "Oh, no - er - _Professor_," he said sardonically. He, Crabbe, and Goyle smirked and went up the steps of the castle.

We walked into the Great Hall. I heard Professor McGonagall, the strict Transfiguration teacher, call Harry and Hermione to her office. Apparently they were going to miss this Sorting Ceremony. Of course Romilda Vane _had_ to be picked for Gryffindor. Soon Harry, Hermione, Professor McGonagall, and Madam Pomfrey (the nurse) all took their seats at their different tables (the Gryffindor table or the High Table). People pointed at Harry as he sat down.

"He fainted," some of them said.

"What were they doing?" I asked, referring to my three friends.

"Oh, probably getting themselves into more trouble," Percy Weasley guessed, who was sitting directly across the table from me.

"Welcome!" announced Dumbledore. He was the headmaster at Hogwarts. He had long silver hair and a long beard, half-moon spectacles, and an extremely crooked nose. He was very old but very energetic. "Welcome to another year at Hogwarts! I have a few things to say to you all, and as one of them is very serious, I think it best to get it out of the way before you become befuddled by our excellent feast…

"As you will all be aware after their search of the Hogwarts Express, our school is presently playing host to some of the dementors of Azkaban, who are here on Ministry of Magic business.

"They are stationed at every entrance to the grounds and while they are with us, I must make it plain that nobody is to leave school without permission. Dementors are not to be fooled by tricks of disguises - or even Invisibility Cloaks. It is not in the nature of a dementor to understand pleading or excuses. I therefore warn each and every one of you to give them no reason to harm you. I look to the prefects, and our new Head Boy and Girl, to make sure that no student runs afoul of the dementors."

Percy puffed out his chest and stared around impressively.

"On a happier note," Dumbledore continued, "I am pleased to welcome two new teachers to our ranks this year. First, Professor Lupin, who has kindly consented to fill the post of Defense Against The Dark Arts teacher." There was scattered, unenthusiastic applause. But Harry, Ron, Hermione, Carly, Neville, Ginny, and I all clapped hard.

"As to our second new appointment," Dumbledore continued as the brief applause died down, "Well, I am sorry to tell you that Professor Kettleburn, our Care of Magical Creatures teacher, retired at the end of last year in order to enjoy more time with his remaining limbs. However, I am delighted to say that his place will be filled by none other than Rubeus Hagrid, who has agreed to take on this teaching job in addition to his game keeping duties."

There was a particularly loud applause coming from the Gryffindor table.

"Well, I think that's everything of importance," said Dumbledore. "Let the feast begin!" The golden plates and goblets before us filled with food and drinks out of nowhere. The hall echoed with talk, laughter, sounds of knives and forks, and chewing. Soon Dumbledore announced it was time for bed.

"Come now, come now, Gryffindors!" called Percy. "Time for bed!"

I went up to Percy. "Percy?" I asked.

"What is it, Amy?" he asked, his voice exhausted.

"Why are there dementors guarding the school?" I wanted to know.

Percy bent down and whispered in my ear, "Because they're protecting us from Sirius Black." Then he raised himself up again and chanted, "Gryffindors! Come forth!" When we climbed the marble staircase we stopped in front of the portrait of a fat lady with a pink dress.

"Password?" she said.

"The new password's 'Fortuna Major'!" Percy replied.

"Oh no," said Neville sadly. He was worried he'd forget this password, just like all the others. When we got into the Gryffindor common room the girls and boys all divided toward their staircases. Ginny and I made it to our circular dormitory room with five four-poster beds. It felt like I had been in this room just yesterday. It was my dorm room.

"Romilda's got her eye on Potter," Florence said excitedly.

"Ooh!" exclaimed Madeleine, smiling naughtily.

"What?" Ginny snapped.

"Wow, Ginny, lighten up," said Veruca. "What, do you like him?"

Ginny stiffened. "No," she said. "I was just asking."

I could tell that Ginny was really brought down by this though. She saw how those boys Landon and John were acting with Romilda; this girl was real competition. And Ginny liked Harry. And how could any boy turn down _Romilda_? She was practically going to become Hogwarts' new heartthrob!

"Did you see that new teacher?" asked Florence. "Remus Lupin?"

"Yuck!" Veruca exclaimed. "Did you see his robes? He looked like a Squib!"

"I think he seemed rather pleasant," Madeleine disagreed.

"Yes," Ginny agreed with Madeleine. "I like him."

"So do I," I admitted.

"That's _your_ opinions," said Veruca. She flew backwards onto her bed. "G'night!" she screamed to absolutely no one in particular.

We all shrugged, changed into our nightwear, and went to bed also. We were all ready for our first day of the new term. So we couldn't sleep.

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Author's Note: Just to let you guys know that Carly Perry is actually BrunetteBeauty1's OC. I also wrote about her in the first installment of Amy Sellick's adventures. So what do you think? Is it cool so far? I like it; it works a lot with _Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban_. If you have any comments or questions please ask! I love answering! And if you want to know where the first installment is just look at my page! Read the next chapter next!


	2. Second Year

Author's Note: Review - After hanging out with the Weasleys over the summer Amy Sellick and her best friend Ginny Weasley are ready for a new school year- one that is better than the one before. They meet new people, like popular Gryffindor first year Romilda Vane and even the new Defense Against The Dark Arts teacher, the pale Remus Lupin. There is something dark about this year though; ghastly creatures called dementors are guarding the school from serial killer Sirius Black.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own _Harry Potter _or its characters. They belong to J.K. Rowling.

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2. Second Year

At breakfast Draco Malfoy was entertaining his Slytherin gang (which consisted of Crabbe, Goyle, the gaunt Blaise Zambini, the lanky Sidney Quagmire, the pug-faced Pansy Parkinson, and the blond AnnaSophia Leach) with a rendition of what he thought had happened to Harry on the train. They were cracking up as he was pretending to swoon.

"Hey, Potter!" shrieked Pansy as Harry walked past her to sit with us. "Potter! The dementors are coming. Potter! _Woooooooo_!"

"They just seem odd," I said to Ginny.

"Yes," Ginny agreed. "They're only embarrassing themselves."

"New second-year course schedules," said George, passing them over to Ginny and me. Harry went to sit next to Fred and George. They were looking at Malfoy, talking about him. I supposed whatever they were saying was funny because they were laughing.

"But look," Ron said loudly, laughing. He was looking down at Hermione's schedule. "See this morning? Nine o'clock, Divination. And underneath, nine o'clock, Muggle Studies. And - _look_ - underneath that, Arithmancy, _nine o'clock_. I mean, I know you're good, Hermione, but no one's _that_ good. How're you supposed to be in three classes at once?"

"Don't be silly," Hermione argued. "Of course I won't be in three classes at once."

"Well, then-"

"Pass the marmalade."

"But-"

"Oh, Ron, what's it to you if my schedule's a bit full? I told you, I've fixed it all up with Professor McGonagall."

"Wow," I said to Ginny. "Did you hear that?"

"Yes," she replied. "How is Hermione going to attend three classes that are all at the same time?"

"Beats me," I said, taking a bite from one of my croissants.

Hagrid entered the Great Hall, wearing his moleskin overcoat and absentmindedly swinging a dead polecat. It was a bit nasty. "All righ'?" he said, pausing above Harry, Ron, and Hermione. "Yer in my firs' ever lesson! Right after lunch! Bin up since five getting' everythin' ready…Hope it's okay…Me, a teacher…hones'ly…"

"When do _we_ have Care Of Magical Creatures?" I asked Ginny.

"Sixth class after lunch," Ginny replied. "That means we have his sixth lesson ever."

"Alright," I said, nodding.

"Our first class is Herbology," Ginny began, "then Muggle Studies, then Potions, then Divination, then Transfiguration, then Defense Against The Dark Arts, then Charms, then Care of Magical Creatures, then Choir…" When she continued to read the list I was excited to know that I didn't have to attend Arithmancy this year. That was because I chose to drop it last year. Don't think I was bad at it because I was quite good; it was just boring.

After breakfast we went down to the greenhouse for Herbology. Professor Sprout was teaching us about the man-eating plant and how to protect yourself from it. She even brought in a live one to demonstrate. It was quite interesting, really- for that class. Next we went to Muggle Studies, where we listed the highs and lows of not being able to use magic or not.

At lunch Ron looked terribly frightened. "Harry," he said lowly, "you _haven't_ seen a great black dog anywhere, have you?"

"Yeah, I have," Harry replied. "I saw one the night I left the Dursleys'." Neither Ginny nor I knew what they were talking about, but apparently Harry had seen a large dog the night he blew up his aunt. This was a big deal apparently.

"Probably a stray," said Hermione calmly.

"Hermione, if Harry's seen a Grim, that's - that's bad," Ron said. "My - my uncle Bilius saw one and - and he died twenty-four hours later!"

"Coincidence," Hermione pointed out.

"You don't know what you're talking about!" Ron cried. "Grims scare the living daylights out of most wizards!"

"There you are then. They see the Grim and die of fight. The Grim's not an omen, it's the cause of death! And Harry's still with us because he's not stupid enough to see one and think, well, I'd better kick the bucket then!" Ron looked appalled when Hermione said this.

"I hope you don't mind me asking," I began, "but what are you guys talking about?"

"Something that happened in Divination," Harry replied.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Professor Trelawney sees a _Grim_ in Harry's future. A big black dog. Apparently he's going to _die_. Such nonsense, if you ask me."

"I believe it," said Ron.

"I think Divination seems very woolly. A lot of guesswork, if you ask me."

"There was nothing woolly about the Grim in that cup!"

"You didn't seem quite so confident when you were telling Harry it was a sheep."

"Professor Trelawney said you didn't have the right aura! You just don't like being bad at something for a change!"

Hermione slammed her Arithmancy book down on the table so hard that bits of her meat and carrots flew up in the air. "If being good at Divination means I have to pretend to see death omens in a lump of tea leaves, I'm not sure I'll be studying it much longer! That lesson was absolute rubbish compared with my Arithmancy class!" She grabbed her bag and marched off.

"What's she talking about?" Ron asked Harry. "She hasn't been to an Arithmancy class yet."

"Was Divination really _that_ terrible?" I asked the two boys.

"It was scary," said Ron. "Bloody nerve-racking."

I gulped. I wish I hadn't signed up for the class.

Next we had Potions. When we entered the dungeon I remembered at once what the class was about; it was about Severus Snape's drawling voice and learning about how to make liquid solutions from plants and other things. I remembered Severus Snape and his long greasy black hair, his sallow complexion, and his dark eyes. I remembered how forbidding and unpopular he was.

Snape made an entrance like he always did, his robes swooshing as he marched through the room. He closed the windows with his wand (that was why it was so dark all of the time). Then he stood in the front of the room.

"Today, class," he said, "we are going to learn a little bit about what we're going to do on Thursday- make Shrinking Solutions out of shrivelfig plants-" (are we in Potions or Herbology?) - "so let's learn about them, shall we?" He held the grade 2 Potions textbook up in the air. "Open your textbooks up to page seventy six." When he said this we all did so. "Good. Now let's go around the room and have each and every one of you read a paragraph."

The students' voices were droning the whole entire time as they read the paragraphs, so I eventually dozed off and had a daydream. Since I was so bored I dreamt about something peculiar; I dreamt about Draco Malfoy and hanging out with him as I listened to him do imitations of Harry Potter fainting at the dementors and hanging out with Pansy Parkinson and not having her make fun of me-

"Miss Sellick?" said Snape. "Are you ready to read to the class yet?"

I woke up to hear the other students laughing at me. "What?" I said. They laughed even harder now. Ginny slapped herself in the face.

"Do you have something to share with the class, Sellick?" Snape asked coldly. "What you were thinking about just now?"

"Oh, no, sir," I said quickly. "I wasn't thinking about anything."

"Then I suggest you wipe that look of otherworldliness off your face and start paying attention, girl," he said bitterly.

"Where are we?" I asked Ginny quietly.

"_Where are we_?" Snape repeated. "Fine. Ms. Weasley, _you_ take Ms. Sellick's paragraph. And we haven't all day either."

"Sorry," Ginny whispered apologetically before she started reading.

Divination was going to be at the top of North Tower, so it was going to take us ten minutes to get there. I'd never been inside there before so it was going to be a long journey. "There's - got - to - be - a - better - way," I panted as we climbed our seventh long staircase. There was a large painting of a bare stretch of grass hanging on the stone wall.

"Yes - I - wish - there - were," Ginny said sadly.

In the painting there was a fat, dapple-gray pony. It trotted unhurriedly onto the grass and was grazing nonchalantly. I was used to the people (and in this case animals) of Hogwarts paintings moving around and leaving their frames to visit another. There was also a private room in the Sellick Manor with moving paintings, so I was used to it there too. There was a short, squat night in a suit of armor with the pony. He had grass stains on his metal knees.

"Aha!" he yelled at us. "Villains! They come to trespass upon my private lands!"

"Not exactly, sir," said Ginny. "Listen, can you tell us if there's a way to the North Tower?"

"A quest!" the knight exclaimed. "I've been asked this many times today! Come follow me, my dear friends, and we shall find our goal, or else shall perish bravely in the charge!" I could tell he was used to saying that last bit, like it was almost a little rehearsed. He gave his sword an unsuccessful tug and failed to mount the fat pony. "On foot then, gentle ladies! On! On!" He ran into the left side of the frame and out of sight.

We hurried after him along the corridor, following the sound of his armor. Every now and then we spotted him running into a picture ahead. "Be of stout heart, the worst is yet to come!" he yelled as he reappeared in front of an annoyed group of women in crinolines. This picture hung on a wall of a narrow spiral staircase. Ginny and I were puffing loudly. As we climbed the tightly spiraling steps, I grew dizzier and dizzier. Soon enough we heard students. We were at the classroom.

"Farewell!" the knight cried, appearing in a painting of monks. "If ever you have need of noble heart and steely sinew, call upon Sir Cadogan!"

"Thank you," said Ginny. The knight disappeared. "That was terrible."

"You can say that again," I assured her. There were no doors to the classroom; instead there was a circular trapdoor with a brass plaque on it. "'Sybill Trelawney, Divination teacher'," I read. "How do you s'ppose we get up there?"

The trapdoor suddenly opened and a silver ladder fell right at our feet. Ginny climbed it first and I followed. I felt so accomplished that I made it here. I felt nauseous at the thought that I would have to do this everyday.

We walked into the strangest-looking classroom ever. It looked more like a cross between someone's attic and an old-fashioned tea shop. There were at least twenty small, circular tables that were crammed inside it, all surrounded by chintz armchairs and fat little padded stools. The room was dimly lit. The lamps were draped with deep red scarves. It was stiflingly warm and the fire that was burning under the crowded mantelpiece was giving off a heavy, sickly perfume smell. The shelves against the circular walls were crammed with dusty-looking feathers, stubs of candles, many packs of old playing cards, and countless silver crystal balls, and a huge array of teacups.

Then a voice came out of nowhere. It was soft and misty. "Welcome," it said. "How nice to see you in the physical world at last." Professor Trelawney stepped into the firelight. She was very thin. She had large glasses that magnified her eyes so that they appeared several times their natural size. She was wearing a gauzy spangled shawl. Dozens (or thousands) of chains and beads hung around her neck and her arms and hands were covered with bangles and rings. "Sit, my children, sit," she said as I climbed awkwardly into an armchair, Ginny in a pouf.

"Welcome to Divination," she said. She sat in a winged armchair in front of the fire. "My name is Professor Trelawney. You may not have seen me before. I find that descending too often into the hustle and bustle of the main school clouds my Inner Eye." Nobody said anything to this extraordinary pronouncement. "So you have chosen to study Divination, the most difficult of all magical arts. I must warn you at the outset that if you do not have the Sight, there is very little I will be able to teach you. Books can only take you so far in this field.

"Many witches and wizards, talented though they are in the area of loud bangs and smells and sudden disappearing, are yet unable to penetrate the veiled mysteries of the future." She walked up to Veruca Ambry, who was scowling in disgust. "My dear," she began. "Is your family alright?"

"Yes, Professor," Veruca replied reluctantly.

"At the _moment_," Trelawney mumbled. She started off and Veruca rolled her eyes. "We will be covering the basic methods of Divination this year," Trelawney continued. "The first term will be devoted to reading the tea leaves. Next term we shall progress to palmistry. Last we will progress to the crystal balls. Unfortunately classes will be disrupted in February by a nasty bout of flu. I myself will lose my voice." Then she walked up to Landon from the train. "I wonder, dear, if you could pass me the largest silver teapot?"

"Yes, Professor," said Landon, looking relieved. He stood up and took an enormous teapot from the shelf and put it down on the table in front of Trelawney.

"Thank you, my dear, Incidentally, that thing you are dreading - it will happen on Tuesday the fourteenth of November." Landon trembled. "Now I want you all to divide into pairs," Trelawney continued. "Collect a teacup from the shelf, come to me, and I will fill it. Then sit down and drink, drink until only the dregs remain. Swill these around the cup three times with the left hand, then turn the cup upside down on its saucer, wait for the last of the tea to drain away, then give your cup to your partner to read. You will interpret the patterns using pages five and six of _Unfogging The Future_. I shall move among you, helping and instructing."

She walked up to Colin Creevey. "Oh, and dear, after you've broken your first cup, you might want to borrow one from this young man," she said, pointing at John. "I haven't anymore."

We did everything we were told, Ginny and me, so now we were reading each other's futures.

"Broaden your minds, my dears, and allow your eyes to see past the mundane!" Trelawney's voice came out of nowhere.

"What do you see?" Ginny asked me.

"I see a sun," I replied, looking in very closely at the tea leaves, "so that means you will have great happiness. And there is also a flag, which means victory. You will be happy _and_ victorious, lucky you."

"I want to see yours," said Ginny, taking my teacup. "I see a bowler hat…you could work for the Ministry of Magic when you grow up…then there's a windfall of unexpected gold…"

"I already am rich," I pointed out quickly, but my enthusiasm immediately faded when I remembered Ginny was very poor and I must've offended her. She didn't seem offended though. She kept reading.

"…the falcon…" she said, looking up at me with terror.

"The _falcon_?" I repeated. "What's _that_?"

"You have a deadly enemy," she replied.

"Probably Malfoy," I said with a snort.

"How can you be so sure?" Ginny asked me darkly, fear in her eyes.

"How can _I _have the deadly enemy?" I wanted to know. "_Harry's_ enemy is Lord Volde-I mean, You-Know-Who. Who could mine be?"

"But wait!" said Ginny, interrupting. "There's a foggy heart…you're going to have to wait for love…"

"Oh, yes," I said sarcastically. "Are you reading that correctly?"

"I'm not positive," Ginny replied honestly. "It could be wrong."

"Read some more," I said. "Maybe you're not reading it right."

"There's a serpent…" said Ginny, her face turning pale. I hated everything she was telling me. I wanted it all to be a lie. Either that or I hoped she just had a very bad Inner Eye.

Trelawney, who was standing above us, gasped. "A s-s-serpent, you said, dear?" she asked Ginny.

"Right," Ginny replied.

"It's _Him_," said Trelawney, her voice trembling.

"Who's _He_?" I wanted to know. "Everyone knows my dad was a Slytherin!"

"Hand me the cup!" Trelawney begged Ginny. Just before Ginny could hand it to her politely Trelawney immediately snatched it from her hand. "The club…an attack. The skull…danger in your path. My dear, this is not a happy cup!"

"What's going to happen to me?" I wondered.

Trelawney frowned down at me. "Terrible things, yes," she replied.

Then I realized the whole entire class was listening, their eyes wide open and staring. Colin Creevey broke his teacup. When class was over Trelawney said, "I think we will leave the lesson here for today…yes…we should. Pack away your things, children. Until we meet again, fair fortune be yours."

It took us just as long as it did to find Trelawney's room to go to Transfiguration, where Professor McGonagall taught us about a beginner's guide to Animagi. Then Defense Against The Dark Arts started with Professor Lupin. "Loony, loopy Lupin," Peeves the Poltergeist sang. There were many ghosts at Hogwarts, and Peeves was particularly the most unlikeable one. But most of the time he showed respect for the teachers. Apparently even _he_ didn't think of Lupin as being much.

"Come on, come on," I said quietly, hoping Lupin would fight back or stick up for himself. But he didn't. He just ignored Peeves. This made me terribly upset. I wanted him to say something, so I did. "Go away, Peeves." I threw a pencil at him. Of course it went through him, but it was threatening in its way. Peeves stuck his fingers in his ears and stuck out his tongue. Then he flew out of sight.

After a lesson with Charms (trying to chant the names of different types of wand-waving) it was time for Care of Magical Creatures. When we got there it was a much different Hagrid teaching. He was more subdued. So Ginny and I demanded his problem. "What is it, Hagrid?" asked Ginny.

"Pardon, Miss Weasley?" he replied.

We were walking into the Forbidden Forest. We ended our walk when we were outside a paddock. The sky was a clear, pale gray. The grass was springy and damp. "We are only wondering what is the matter," Ginny explained.

"Er- why is 'at?" Hagrid was curious to know.

"You're in low spirits, Hagrid," I pointed out, "or at least you seem that way."

"Yer mistaken," he disagreed. "Nuttin' is the matter 'cause there ain't no matter!" Then tears were welling up in his large, twinkling eyes. His voice was shaking too. There _was_ something wrong. "Hey, Professor!" shouted Colin Creevey, who was struggling with his _Monster Book of Monsters _book. "How do we open our books?" "Yeh…yeh've…" Hagrid tried to respond but the words couldn't come out.

"You have to stroke it," Luna Lovegood said to Colin.

"Thanks," said Colin, a bit uneasy. There weren't a lot of students at Hogwarts who liked Luna and he felt a bit uncomfortable speaking to her in front of others. He stroked the book and it calmed down.

"You're welcome," said Luna, not seeming the least bit uncomfortable. She skipped away, all her abundant dirty-blond hair flying behind her.

"Just tell us, Hagrid," said Ginny, tugging on the ends of his moleskin overcoat.

Hagrid blew his nose in a tissue and cried, "My lesson is ruined! I haven't bin able to show Buckbeak to my classes 'cept for firs' period! All cause of that kid Mal…cause of a kid."

"_Mal_?" Ginny repeated. "You mean to say _Malfoy_ ruined your lesson?"

"I ne'er said it was Malfoy,"Hagrid said quietly.

"Come _on_, Hagrid," I demanded. "We're not giving up easily."

Hagrid sighed. "Fine, fine," he said. "It _was_ Malfoy. Buckbeak was a hippogriff, yeh know. Then Malfoy…_Malfoy_…well, he star'led the poor fella. An' insulted him. Buckbeak don' like people comin' at 'im fast, or insulting him, so he sorta panicked and-" He blew his nose even louder and harder this time.

"And what, Hagrid?" asked Ginny sympathetically.

"-and he sorta scratched his arm!" Hagrid finished. "But he was upset! He had to protect himself!"

"I'm sure it'll be alright, Hagrid," I assured him, patting him on his lower back. "I'm sure the Ministry will understand-"

"They won't," Hagrid began, "'cause o' Malfoy's father Lucius." I shuddered at the sound of Lucius Malfoy's name. Not only was he very intimidating but he also had so much power over the Ministry. Yes, sure he was sacked as a school governor last year, but that couldn't have broken all of his ties. If he'd hear about what happened to his son he would have the hippogriff executed straight away.

Ginny gasped. Basically now she got the idea that there was absolutely nothing we could do to save Hagrid's precious Buckbeak.

"Well, there yeh have it," said Hagrid, trying to collect himself. He just sat by the paddock crying for the whole lesson. Basically it was almost like a free period since we weren't doing anything.

Draco Malfoy was absent from lessons for a few days ("Hallelujah!"), but there was talk that he was returning to classes during late Thursday morning. When it was Thursday these rumors weren't lies- I saw him strutting about the hall. He was walking down to the dungeons, so I followed him, knowing he had Potions next. "How is it, Draco?" simpered Pansy, gently touching his scratched arm. "Does it hurt much?"

"Yeah," said Malfoy, grimacing. When Pansy looked away though I could see him wink at Crabbe and Goyle.

"Hey, _Malfoy_!" I shouted, feeling brave at the moment. "You liar! Your arm doesn't hurt! Because of _you_ Hagrid couldn't introduce Buckbeak to any of his classes that came after yours!" Malfoy's friends snickered. "Sellick," Malfoy began looking serious, "It _does_ hurt, for your information. And I don't know about you but I believe I _spared_ your class. I spared you all from having that big oaf introduce you to that freakish bird."

"Your father better not take any part in this," I threatened.

Malfoy smirked cruelly. "Thanks for the idea," he said, winking. "Maybe you're good for _something_." Then he went into Snape's classroom.

I felt a pinch behind my green eyes. It made me want to cry. Malfoy was going to tell his father about the incident with Buckbeak. Buckbeak was surely going to die. It made me not want to pay attention in my next class.

Later when I went to Potions we did exactly what I knew we were going to do. Professor Snape told us we were going to create Shrinking Solutions from shrivelfig plants on Thursday, and I did fairly well. My partner, who was Ginny (like always), did well too. Snape lent Gryffindor five points, which was handy.

The most interesting class of the day was Defense Against The Dark Arts. Lupin smiled warmly at each and every one of us as he placed his tatty briefcase on the teacher's desk. Since he had eaten since he was starting to look healthier than he did on the Hogwarts Express. "Good afternoon," he said. "Would you please put all your books back in your bags. Today's will be a practical lesson. You will need only your wands."

Different members of the class exchanged looks as the class put away their books. We never had a practical Defense Against The Dark Arts lesson before. "Right then," said Lupin when everyone finished. "If you'd followed me." We all got up and followed him out of the classroom. He led us along the empty corridor and around a corridor. He led us down a second corridor when we stopped walking right outside the staffroom door. "Inside, please," he said, opening it and standing back.

The staffroom was a long, paneled room filled with old, mismatched chairs. None of the teachers were in there at the moment. "Sir!" Veruca Ambry shouted rudely.

"Yes, Miss Ambry?" said Lupin.

"I don't want to sound rude but what are we doing in _here_?"

"Ah, yes, so glad you asked, Miss Ambry." Just as he said this a wardrobe in the room made a sudden wobble, banging off the wall. "You mustn't worry, class," Lupin assured us. "There's a boggart in there. Boggarts like dark, enclosed spaces. Wardrobes, the gap beneath beds, the cupboards under sinks- I've even met one that had lodged itself in a grandfather clock. _This_ one moved in yesterday afternoon, and I asked the headmaster if the staff would leave it to give my second years some practice. So the first question we must ask ourselves is, what _is_ a boggart?"

Luna Lovegood raised her hand. "It's a shape-shifter," she replied. "It takes the shape of your worst fears."

"Couldn't have put it better myself," Lupin admitted. "The boggart is sitting in the darkness within. He has yet not assumed a form. He does not yet know who is standing on the other side of the door or what their worst fear is for that matter. Nobody knows what a boggart looks like when he is alone, but when I let him out, he will immediately become whatever each of us most fears. This means that we have a huge advantage over the boggart before we begin.

"It's always best to have company when you're dealing with a boggart. He becomes confused. Which should he become, a headless corpse or a flesh-eating slug? I once saw a boggart make that very mistake- tried to frighten two people at once and turned himself into half a slug. Not remotely frightening.

"The charm that repels a boggart is simple, yet it requires force of mind. You see, the thing that really finishes a boggart is _laughter_. What you need to do is force it to assume a shape that you will find amusing. We will practice the charm without wands first. After me, please…_riddikulus_!"

"_Riddikulus_!" we all said together.

"Good," he said. "Very good. But that was the easy part, I'm afraid. You see, the word alone is not enough. And this is you where _you_ come in, _Veruca_, since you've been participating so well this period." Veruca's eyes became very wide all of a sudden. Then she stepped forward. "Right, Veruca. First things first: what would you say is the thing that frightens you most in the world?" She mouthed words, but they didn't come out. "Didn't catch that, Veruca, sorry?"

She looked embarrassed. "Argus Filch," she said quietly. Nearly everyone laughed, so she closed her eyes in frustration.

"Argus Filch, yes, good choice," said Lupin, rubbing his chin in thought. "Hmmm…say, Miss Ambry, what do you like doing when you're not at Hogwarts?"

"Easy," said Veruca, beaming. "Shopping." Every girl in the room nodded in agreement and approval.

"Now, Veruca," Lupin continued, "since you are such an ardent shopper, in all of your years have you seen any particularly curious outfit? Any outfit that had to make you laugh out loud?"

Veruca looked up in thought. "Yes, I think so," she replied.

"How did that outfit appear?"

"It was a shocking pink dress with about several billion ruffles to be exact," she replied, smirking as everyone in the class laughed _with_ her instead of _at_ her.

"When the boggart bursts out of this wardrobe, Veruca, and sees you, it will assume the form of Argus Filch," said Lupin. "And you will raise your wand - thus - and cry '_Riddikulus_'- and concentrate hard on this outfit you've seen at the shopping mall. If all goes well, Boggart Filch will be forced into that shocking pink dress with several billion ruffles to be exact." Everyone cracked up now. The wardrobe wobbled now more violently.

"If Veruca is successful, the boggart is likely to shift his attention to each of us in turn," said Lupin. "I would like all of you to take a moment now to think of the thing that scares you the most and imagine how you might force it to look comical…Everyone ready?…Veruca, we're going to back away. Let you have a clear field, all right? I'll call the next person forward…Everyone back, now, so Veruca can get a clear shot-" We all retreated and backed against the walls. Veruca looked pale and frightened. She was gripping her wand tightly though, ready.

"On the count of three, Veruca," said Lupin. He was pointing his wand at the handle of the wardrobe. "One- two- three- _now_!" A jet of sparks shot from the end of Lupin's wand and hit the doorknob. The wardrobe burst open. Fuming and nasty, Argus Filch stepped out, his eyes flashing at Veruca. He started toward her, but she lifted her wand in the air and shouted, "_Riddikulus_!" Just then Filch was wearing a ruffled, bright pink dress. Everyone cracked up at the look of Filch's embarrassed expression. "Madeleine! Forward!" shouted Lupin.

_Crack_! Next thing I knew the boggart had transformed itself into a room-sized _cockroach_! It quickly started toward her, its mouthparts chomping ferociously, just before she shouted "_Riddikulus_!" and it shrunk smaller than your pinkie nail.

"Luna!" Lupin roared.

_Crack_! Just then something very peculiar appeared. "_Riddikulus_!" she shouted. _Crack_! It had transformed itself into fireworks. As Luna skipped next to the line she said to Ginny and me, "It was the Nargles."

"Colin!" Lupin called.

_Crack_! The boggart turned into a basilisk (which had many students shielding their eyes so they wouldn't make eye contact). I supposed this was because he had been Petrified by one the year before. "_Riddikulus_!" _Crack_! A floating camera went up in front of it and took a picture, causing for its eyes to go blind. Then it started struggling.

"_Ginny_!"

_Crack_! I immediately recognized who the boggart became next. It was Percy, walking up to Ginny, opening his mouth to boss her around. "_Riddikulus_!" she shouted. _Crack_! He was wearing a dress-like robe that Mrs. Weasley had supposedly made for him. The class cracked up. And then it hit me; Ginny was brave. She was so brave that the thing that bothered her most on earth was her own brother.

"_Amy_!" exclaimed Lupin.

_Crack_! I didn't even think before the boggart transformed. I knew exactly who it took the form of. The handsome, pale face, the black hair, the height- It was Tom Riddle as a teenaged boy. He was coming toward me, his wand lifted in the air. He was going to fight me.

"Amy, _say it_!" Lupin called, cuffing his hands over his mouth.

I just looked back at him, and then at Ginny, whose face was utterly pale as if blood was drained from it. Nobody else knew who this person was, but Ginny (and from his expression Lupin too) very much did. I turned back to face Tom Riddle. I wasn't going to chant; instead I was too busy wondering why this hadn't been Ginny's worst fear when Tom Riddle used _her_ even more than he used me to open the Chamber of Secrets. Was she trying to forget?

Since I didn't do anything Lupin leaped up in front of me with his arms outstretched. Then the boggart turned into a full moon. "_Riddikulus_!" he cried as it turned itself into a deflating balloon. "Alright, class. Your period has ended. Time to go off."

"I saw that," Ginny said to me, grabbing my shoulder.

"What?" I asked.

"_Tom_," she replied, looking down when she said his name. "But I wonder, why does it bother you more than it bothers me?"

"I've been wondering the same thing," I admitted.

"Miss Amy," said Lupin. I turned around to see him, his hands folded behind his back. "We ought to practice together. Tomorrow I'll tell you what I think we can do. Does that sound all right?"

"Yes," I replied, nodding. Then Ginny and I left for the Gryffindor common room.

............

Author's Note: Oh no! Why do you think Tom Riddle/Voldemort bothers Amy more than it bothers Ginny Weasley, when Ginny kept the diary far much longer than Amy did the year before? It's a great big mystery. Since Amy couldn't get the job done herself Lupin had to help her fight off the boggart. And why was Lupin's worst fear a full moon? And why is Lupin going to schedule a practice with Amy? Find out as you keep reading!


	3. Dangers Of Hogwarts

Author's Note: Review- Amy Sellick and her best friend Ginny Weasley have started their second year at Hogwarts. There are some changes, like a different Defense Against The Dark Arts teacher and a different Care of Magical Creatures teacher. In her D.A.D.A. class Amy couldn't succeed the class assignment, so she needed help from the new professor, Remus Lupin. So he's going to think of a way to set aside practice time for her. Do you think this is a good idea?

DISCLAIMER: I do not own _Harry Potter _or its characters. They belong to J.K. Rowling.

............

3. Dangers Of Hogwarts

Soon enough Lupin became everyone's favorite teacher, except for the Slytherins. "Look at the state of his robes," Malfoy would say in a loud whisper as Lupin passed. "He dresses like our old house-elf." Yes, I heard all about Dobby and how the Malfoys would mistreat him. Another reason I hated them so.

Nobody cared about the state of Lupin's robes though. He always had interesting lessons, such as Red Caps, nasty little goblin like creatures that lurked wherever there had been bloodshed: in the dungeons of castles and the potholes of deserted battlefields, waiting to bludgeon those who had gotten lost. Then kappas, creepy water-dwellers that looked like scaly monkeys, with webbed hands itching to strangle unwitting waders in their ponds.

There was a story passed around that in the third year's Defense Against The Dark Arts class Neville Longbottom had chosen Severus Snape for the boggart to change into, so Snape was extremely vindictive. Especially since he had been dressed in Neville's grandmother's clothes. Divination wasn't any better- Hermione was right. It was such an unbearable class. It was stifling (and I hated the run to the North Tower) and I hated the way Professor Trelawney would look at me- all sad and remorseful. I heard things were worse for Harry though in that department. I dreaded it though.

Now in Care of Magical Creatures (where Hagrid was still very subdued) we just did things like look after flobberworms, which were dreadfully boring creatures.

On Friday, the day right after the boggart lesson Lupin called me to come to his room on Saturday at seven o'clock. "Hello, Miss Amy," he said on Saturday. "How was your first week of school?"

"It was wonderful, Professor," I replied, looking around the Defense Against The Dark Arts room in awe. It looked neither expensive nor special, but it was an improvement after coming a year with Professor Gilderoy Lockhart's conceited paintings hung up everywhere. I liked Lupin much better.

"Well, that's good," said Lupin. "A happier heart and a positive perspective increase your work ethic." He walked up to me. "I haven't the boggart ready, so we won't be able to practice today." This lifted my spirits, until he said what he did next. "I knew it. Your worst fear would be Lord Voldemort."

"Don't say His name," I panicked, shutting my eyes as if this could make the situation any better.

"It's so plain," said Lupin, ignoring me, walking away, his hands still folded. "Your father didn't care for Him much either. Your father was a rebel, Amy. When Voldemort ordered wizards and witches around, your father didn't take orders, which made him very brave in his way. So I have no doubt in my mind that when He is strong again He might strike at your very house."

I gulped. "My dad k-knew Lord V-Voldemort?"

"Indeed he did," said Lupin, chuckling. "You'd be surprised to know how much the two of them didn't get along."

"So he's a hero then?" I asked meekly, praying the answer be yes.

"Yes," said Lupin, giving me a serious look. "Though he's made some mistakes. But we won't discuss that right now." How could he expect me to not want to know more about that? "So," he continued, "the point is you need to get over your fear of Voldemort, just in case you shall face Him in the future."

"I don't want to ever face Him!" I cried, my voice trembling.

"That's why it's important that you be prepared," Lupin explained. "That you're much more advanced than the typical young witch."

Professor Severus Snape opened the door. He was holding a goblet, which was smoking faintly. He stopped when he saw me, giving Lupin a startled look. "Ah, Severus," said Lupin, smiling. "I thank you kindly. Now if you'd just leave it on my desk for me?"

Snape set it down on the desk, his eyes staring from Lupin to me back and forth over and over again. "Remus," he finally said. "If I were you I would drink it. Quick. It's getting late."

"I will; don't worry, Severus," Lupin assured him.

"I'm brewing the cauldronful," Snape continued. "If ever you need more."

"Thanks, Severus," said Lupin. "Goodness, you're a genius. That _will_ come in handy. What would I do without you?"

"Thank _you_, Remus," Snape responded, bowing his head. He looked at me watchfully once more before he left.

"Professor Snape has very kindly concocted a potion for me," said Lupin. "I have never been much of a potion-brewer and this one is particularly complex." He picked up the goblet and sniffed it. "Pity sugar makes it useless."

"Why-?" I wanted to know.

"I've been feeling a bit off-color. This potion is the only thing that helps. I am very lucky to be working alongside Professor Snape; there aren't many who are up to making it." He took a sip. I had the urge to snatch it from him. What if it was poison? How could you ever be too sure?

"Some people reckon Snape would do anything to get the Defense Against The Dark Arts job, because he's very interested," I pointed out.

"Rubbish!" exclaimed Lupin. "Amy, I need to catch up on some work. Go to your common room. Like Snape said, it's getting late."

"Right," I said. Then I left for the Gryffindor common room.

At the start of October Quidditch season was approaching. Things were getting a bit more exciting. After Harry returned from a meeting he, Ron, Hermione, Fred and George were talking about Hogsmeade. If you were a third year or older you would be able to take visits to the Muggle-less city. I heard there were stores such as Honeydukes (a candy shop), Zonko's Joke Shop, Dervish And Banges (the wizarding equipment shop), and the Three Broomsticks (a bar). Their first weekend was going to be on Halloween. But Harry couldn't go since none of his guardians would sign a permission form for him.

"Harry, I'm sure you'll be able to go next time," said Hermione. "They're bound to catch Black soon. He's been sighted once already."

"Black's not fool enough to try anything in Hogsmeade," said Ron. "Ask McGonagall if you can go this time, Harry. The next one might not be for ages-"

"_Ron_!" Hermione snapped. "Harry's supposed to stay _in school_-"

"He can't be the only third year left behind. Ask McGonagall, go on, Harry-"

"Yeah, I think I will," said Harry. Hermione opened her mouth to argue but just then the fat cat that had been in our compartment back on the Hogwarts Express jumped onto her lap, a large, dead spider dangling from its mouth. It was a nasty sight, yes.

"Does he have to eat that in front of us?" said Ron, scowling.

"Clever Crookshanks, did you catch that all by yourself?" said Hermione. The cat chewed up the spider, his yellow eyes fixed on Ron.

"Just keep him over there, that's all," said Ron, turning away. "I've got Scabbers asleep in my bag." He was just about to help Harry copy some of his homework when Hermione, who despised copying, didn't say anything. Crookshanks pounced on Ron, which made me frightened.

"OY!" Ron roared, seizing his bag as Crookshanks dug his four sets of claws deep inside it and began tearing ferociously. "GET OFF, YOU STUPID ANIMAL!" He tried to pull the bag away, but Crookshanks clung on tighter.

"Ron, don't hurt him!" Hermione cried. Now everyone was staring. Scabbers came flying out of the top of the bag.

"CATCH THAT CAT!" Ron yelled as Crookshanks freed himself and started chasing Scabbers. George made a lunge for the cat but missed. Scabbers stopped running under my legs, making me very nervous. I didn't like rats, whether they belonged to a friend or not. I wanted to panic.

"Don't move, Amy," said Ginny, touching my arm. She bent low to make a grab for Scabbers but then the rat started off again.

Hermione ended up catching Crookshanks by the middle, Ron Scabbers by the tail. "Look at him!" he said to Hermione, dangling Scabbers in front of her. "He's skin and bone! You keep that cat away from him!"

"Crookshanks doesn't understand it's wrong!" Hermione argued. "All cats chase rats, Ron!"

"There's something funny about that animal," said Ron, trying to put a wiggling Scabbers into his pocket. "It heard me say that Scabbers was in my bag!"

"Oh, what rubbish," said Hermione. "Crookshanks could _smell_ him, Ron, how else d'you think-"

"That cat's got it in for Scabbers!" said Ron, ignoring the giggling others in the room. "And Scabbers was here first, _and_ he's ill!" He marched out of the common room and up the stairs to the boys' dormitories.

The next morning at breakfast Veruca Ambry had received a letter from her parents saying that her father was fired from his job and they were broke. She wouldn't be living in her expensive mansion anymore and they would have to struggle for survival. We started to grow more and more suspicious about Professor Trelawney and her predictions.

"Ha, Hermione!" Ron laughed. "What do you think of _that_? Ginny's told me that Trelawney's announced Veruca's family was alright at the _moment_ on the first day of school and look what's happened to her!"

"Coincidence," Hermione sang with a sarcastic eye roll.

On Halloween morning at breakfast Ron and Hermione kept having to make Harry feel better about not going to Hogsmeade. "We'll bring you lots of sweets back from Honeydukes," said Hermione, looking genuinely sorry.

"Yeah, loads," said Ron. The two of them had forgotten the Crookshanks-Scabbers situation when they tried to help Harry.

"Don't worry about me," said Harry. "I'll see you at the feast. Have a good time." When we went back to the Gryffindor common room Colin Creevey offered for Harry to hang out with him.

"Harry! Harry! Hi, Harry!" Colin cried, staring in awe. "Aren't you going to Hogsmeade, Harry? Why not?" He looked around the room at his friends. "Hey- you can come and sit with us, if you like, Harry!"

"Er-no, thanks, Colin," Harry replied, seeming like getting attention from Colin's over-excited friends was the last thing he needed. "I-I've got to go to the library, got to get some work done." He started off to the portrait hole. I spoke.

"Are you sure you're alright, Harry?" I asked.

"I am," he said kindly. "Thanks for asking." Then he left.

When we were in the Gryffindor common room later that night Ron and Hermione gave Harry all of the brilliantly colored sweets they found at Hogsmeade. They even mentioned seeing an ogre in the Three Broomsticks. Then they said they wished they could have given him butterbeer. "What did you do?" Hermione asked Harry. "Did you get any work done?"

"No," said Harry. "Lupin made me a cup of tea in his office. And then Snape came in…" He told them all about a goblet. Ron's mouth fell open.

"_Lupin drank it_?" Ron gasped. "Is he mad?" Then it hit me; this was probably the same goblet I saw Snape give to Lupin when I believed it was poison myself. So I told them all about the time I visited Lupin and Snape gave him a drink.

"That's murder!" Ron cried. "Snape is slowly killing Lupin!"

"It all makes sense," Harry agreed. "Since he wants his job and all."

"We'd better go down, you know, the feast'll be starting in five minutes…" said Hermione checking her watch. We hurried through the portrait hole and into the crowd. "But if he- you know- if he _was _trying to- to poison Lupin- he wouldn't have done it in front of Amy _or_ Harry."

"Yeah, maybe," said Harry. We reached the entrance hall that crossed into the Great Hall. The Great Hall had been decorated with hundreds and hundreds of candle-filled pumpkins, a cloud of fluttering live bats, and many flaming orange streamers, which were swimming lazily across the stormy ceiling like watersnakes.

The food was delicious. Ron and Hermione even offered me some of the sweets from Hogsmeade, which were simply very scrumptious. We looked over at the High Table and noticed Snape narrowing his black eyes at Lupin, who was talking to tiny little Professor Flitwick. The Hogwarts ghosts were entertainment, like Nearly Headless Nick pretending to behead himself again.

"Oh, no," I sighed. I needed to use the bathroom.

"What is it?" asked Ginny.

"I need to use the bathroom," I replied.

"That's alright," said Ginny. "Just be back soon. Seems every year something peculiar happens on Halloween."

And she was right. I left the table and into the halls. I heard someone else in the corridors, so I felt a bit scared trying to make my way to Gryffindor tower. This really wasn't a time I wanted to come across a dementor. Maybe I had just been hearing things. But this assumption was ruined when I saw the person in the corridors; it was a man so skeletal that his waxy skin stretched tightly over his bones. Aside from his eyes, with his deep, dark sockets he could have looked like a corpse.

Then I remembered, this man looked a whole lot like Sirius Black from those WANTED photos and the _Daily Prophet_. I felt completely hopeless. I opened my mouth to scream. Sirius Black marched closer to me and was pointing his wand at my face so closely that it was poking my cheek. So I didn't scream. He smirked wickedly as he held a bony finger up to his lips and started up the stairs.

I couldn't let him go up there. He was a serial murderer. So I waited until he was completely out of view so I could follow and stop him if it was needed. I held my wand, ready to shout '_Expelliarmus_!' and disarm him. Then I saw him. He was talking to the Fat Lady in the Gryffindor portrait hole. Oh, no! He was going to the Gryffindor common room! What did he need there?

"Password?" she asked. _Fortuna Major_.

"I don't care or know what the hell the password is, lady!" Sirius Black replied, his voice shaking as if he was insane.

"_Password_," she demanded.

"_Expelliarmus_!" I shouted. Then Sirius' wand flew out of his hand. He sneered back at me, and then lifted his hand to slash the painting in the portrait hole. Just before he hit the Fat Lady she fled to another picture. There was strips of canvas littered on the floor. He had torn away great chunks.

"Ha!" Sirius exclaimed. Then he bumped into me harshly on the way down the stairs.

"I- I won't let you get away!" I cried, lifting my wand.

"I was not going to kill you, girl!" he shouted back. "So if you don't bother me I don't bother you! How does that sound?"

"You can't kill Harry!" I demanded.

"Why does everybody think I want to kill _Harry Potter_?" Sirius asked. This made me sick. Of _course_ he wanted to kill Harry Potter!

"Because!" I replied, thinking. "Because of _you_ Voldemort killed Harry's parents, that's why!"

"I wouldn't be saying His name if I were you, girl," said Sirius quietly. "And you shan't develop a habit of wandering about these halls _alone_. You're a pretty girl and Peter Pettigrew is here…somewhere…He'd kill you!"

I shuddered. Why was Sirius Black - the _serial_ murderer - telling me that someone by the name of _Peter Pettigrew _would kill me?

When I started hearing people leaving the Great Hall Sirius Black fled into the darkness. And I couldn't even say or do anything to stop him. Then an abundant crowd of Gryffindors were elbowing past me and bumping me to get to the front of the crowd to the portrait hole. Then people started whispering worriedly at the absence of the Fat Lady. It was terrible.

"Let me through, please," came Percy's voice. On the way to the front he put his hand on my shoulder and pushed me to the side. "What's the holdup here?" he asked. "You can't all have forgotten the password- excuse me, I'm Head Boy-" He looked up and saw the slashed canvas with the missing Fat Lady. "Somebody get Professor Dumbledore."

"What's going on?" said Ginny. She was right behind me. She had pushed her way to the middle of the crowd.

"I saw," I replied, "but I'm not sure I understand it."

A moment later Professor Dumbledore arrived. We squeezed together as we let Dumbledore get to the front of the line.

"Oh, my-" I heard Hermione cry.

Dumbledore took one look at the ruined painting and turned, his eyes somber, to see Professors McGonagall, Lupin, and Snape hurrying toward him.

"We need to find her," he said. "Professor McGonagall, please go to Mr. Filch at once and tell him to search every painting in the castle for the Fat Lady."

"You'll be lucky!" sang Peeve's voice. He bobbed over the crowd looking delighted as always, even though we were in a terrible situation.

"What do you mean, Peeves?" Dumbledore asked calmly. Peeves' grin faded. He didn't taunt Dumbledore. Instead he used an oily voice, which sounded no better than his cackle.

"Ashamed, Your Headship, sir. Doesn't want to be seen. She's a horrible mess. Saw her running through the landscape up on the fourth floor, sir, dodging between the trees. Crying something dreadful," he said happily. "Poor thing," he added unconvincingly.

"Did she say who did it?" said Dumbledore quietly.

"Oh yes, Professorhead," said Peeves. "He got very angry when she wouldn't let him in, you see." He flipped over and grinned at Dumbledore from between his own legs. "Nasty temper he's got, that Sirius Black."

"Return to the Great Hall!" Dumbledore announced to all of the students. "The teachers and I need to conduct a thorough search of the castle. I'm afraid that, for your own safety, you will have to spend the night here. I want the prefects to stand guard over the entrances to the hall and I am leaving the Head Boy-" (Percy looked proud and important) "-and Girl in charge. Any disturbance should be reported to me immediately. Send word with one of the ghosts. Oh, yes, you'll be needing…" He waved his wand casually and the long tables flew to the edges of the hall and stood themselves against the walls; another wave, and the floor was covered with hundreds of squashy purple sleeping bags.

"Sleep well," he said. Just before he left through the doors for the night I tapped his shoulder. He turned around confusedly.

"Professor Dumbledore," I said nervously. "I was there when Sirius Black slashed the Fat Lady's painting."

"Why was that, Miss Sellick?" he wanted to know. "You could have been killed!"

"It was because I was taking a bathroom break," I began, "and I saw Sirius, and I wanted to tell you guys, but I was too afraid since he was holding his wand up in my face-"

McGonagall slapped her hand to her mouth. "That's horrible," she said.

"Yes, it is," I agreed. Dumbledore waved me out the doors as he and the other teachers were leaving. Apparently he was going to let me come with them. "And then he went up to the Fat Lady and she told him 'password' and he didn't know it, so he got angry and slashed the painting. Then he told me I shan't develop a habit of wandering the halls alone because there was someone named Peter Pettigrew-"

"Nonsense," snapped Snape. "Peter Pettigrew is _dead_."

"Wait, Severus," said Lupin. Then he walked up to me and bent over so our eyes were on the same level. "What did he say about Pettigrew, Amy?"

"He said he was here somewhere and he'd kill me," I replied.

"Sirius or Peter?" Lupin wanted to clarify.

"Peter," I assured him. "Sirius said he didn't want to kill me."

The teachers made faces, except for Dumbledore. "Amy," said Dumbledore, "were there others with you when this happened?"

"No, except for Peeves, apparently," I pointed out.

"Good," said Dumbledore. "Lead us to the spot of the crime." I led the teachers to the staircase Sirius and I climbed to get to the Gryffindor Tower. It was a nerve-racking experience teaching teachers something- it made me feel like I had to sound all professional.

"He held his wand in my face here," I said before I started up the stairs. "Then he went up the stairs, and when he was clearly out of sight I went up, looking for him." I started up the stairs and the teachers followed me. "Then I saw him arguing with the Fat Lady. And that's when he slashed her painting."

Dumbledore sighed. "Amy, you should head back to the Great Hall so we can make a thorough search for Sirius Black. Minerva, lead her back to the Great Hall."

"Yes, Albus," said McGonagall, putting her arm behind my back and walking me to the Great Hall. I didn't want to be going back to the Great Hall though. I wanted to help them look for Sirius.

"Do you know who Peter Pettigrew was?" I asked her. "You know, like before he died?"

McGonagall sighed. "Peter Pettigrew's death was a tragic one, Miss Sellick," she replied.

"Who killed him?" I asked.

"Sirius Black," McGonagall replied. That made me very confused. Why would have Sirius made a remark to me like the one he said if he had killed Pettigrew himself? I just didn't get it. What if there had been a misunderstandment?

It was pitch-black in the Great Hall. It was hard to sleep since so many students were talking and the sleeping bags weren't the most comfortable. I was too busy thinking about the dangers at Hogwarts. First Lucius Malfoy going to execute Buckbeak, then Snape giving Lupin poison, and last the new problem- Sirius Black lurking the school. What could be worse?

Later that night Percy asked Dumbledore, "Any sign of him, Professor?"

"No. All well here?"

"Everything under control, sir."

"Good. There's no point moving them all now. I've found a temporary guardian for the Gryffindor portrait hole. You'll be able to move them back in tomorrow."

"And the Fat Lady, sir?"

"Hiding in a map of Argyllshire on the second floor. Apparently she refused to let Black in without the password, so he attacked. She's still very distressed, but once she's calmed down, I'll have Mr. Filch restore her."

The door of the hall creaked open. There was footsteps. "Headmaster?" It was Snape. "The whole of the third floor has been searched. He's not there. And Filch has done the dungeons; nothing there either."

"What about the Astronomy tower? Professor Trelawney's room? The Owlery?"

"All searched…"

"Very well, Severus. I didn't really expect Black to linger."

"Have you any theory as to how he got in, Professor?" asked Snape. Suddenly I got interested.

"Many Severus, each of them as unlikely as the next."

"You remember the conversation we had, Headmaster, just before - ah - the start of term?" said Snape.

"I do, Severus," said Dumbledore.

"It seems - almost impossible - that Black could have entered the school without inside help. I did express my concerns when you appointed-"

"I do not believe a single person inside this castle would have helped Black enter it," said Dumbledore clearly. "Just because Amy Sellick was there doesn't mean she had anything to do with his break-in." Snape didn't respond. "I must go down to the dementors," said Dumbledore. "I said I would inform them when our search was complete."

"Didn't they want to help, sir?" said Percy.

"Oh yes," said Dumbledore coldly. "But I'm afraid no dementor will cross the threshold of this castle while I am headmaster." Dumbledore left, followed by Snape a few moments later. I just stared up at the starry ceiling now.

The Fat Lady and her canvas had been replaced by the one of Sir Cadogan and his fat gray pony. Nobody liked this much; Sir Cadogan spent half his time challenging people to duels, and the rest thinking up ridiculously complicated passwords, which he changed at least twice a day.

"He's a complete lunatic," said Seamus Finnigan angrily to Percy. "Can't we get anyone else?"

"None of the other pictures wanted the job," Percy explained. "Frightened of what happened to the Fat Lady. Sir Cadogan was the only one brave enough to volunteer."

On the final training for Quidditch before Gryffindor's match against Slytherin that would take place on Saturday Oliver Wood announced to his team that they would fight Hufflepuff instead since Draco Malfoy, the Slytherin seeker, broke his arm. The real reason the Slytherins didn't want to play though was because of the weather. It would damage their chances. When he said this there was a distance rumble of thunder in the background.

"There's _nothing wrong _with Malfoy's arm!" Harry yelled furiously. "He's faking it!"

"I know that, but we can't prove it," said Wood bitterly. "And we've been practicing all those moves assuming we're playing Slytherin, and instead it's Hufflepuff, and their style's quite different. They've got a new Captain and Seeker, Cedric Diggory-"

(Three of the female Quidditch players) Angelina Johnson, Alicia Spinnet, and Katie Bell all giggled at once. And I knew why. Cedric was tall and handsome with grey eyes and chiseled features. He said hi to me several times during my first year, even though it was never more than just hi.

"What?" said Wood, frowning at their foolish behavior.

"He's that tall, good-looking one, isn't he?" said Angelina.

"Strong and silent," said Katie. They started to giggle again.

"He's only silent because he's too thick to string two words together," said Fred impatiently. "I don't know why you're worried, Oliver, Hufflepuff is a pushover. Last time we played them, Harry caught the Snitch in about five minutes, remember?"

"We were playing in completely different conditions!" Wood shouted, his eyes growing big. "Diggory's put a very strong side together! He's an excellent Seeker! I was afraid you'd take it like this! We mustn't relax! We must keep our focus! Slytherin is trying to wrong-foot us! We _must_ win!" Wow, a bit overboard there, Wood.

"Oliver, calm down!" said Fred, looking slightly alarmed and startled. I didn't blame him. "We're taking Hufflepuff very seriously," he continued. "_Seriously_."

The next day, which was the one before the match, the winds reached howling point and the rain fell harder than ever. It was so dark inside the corridors and classrooms that extra torches and lanterns were lit. The Slytherin team was looking very smug indeed. None more so than Malfoy though.

"Ah, if only my arm was feeling a bit better!" he sighed as the gale outside pounded the windows.

That day Professor Lupin was unable to teach Defense Against The Dark Arts, sadly. He was feeling ill, so Snape taught it instead. "He says he is feeling too ill to teach today," said Snape with a twisted smile.

"What's wrong with him?" I dared asking. I wasn't afraid of Snape. I wanted to know the _real_ reason why our D.A.D.A. teacher couldn't show up.

Snape's black eyes glimmered. "Nothing life-threatening," he replied.

"But that's not enough!" I argued. "Tell us what _specifically_ is wrong with him!"

Snape looked alarmed. "I would not expect such behavior from _you_, Miss Sellick, but of course you _are_ a Gryffindor and Gryffindors aren't to be trusted. Five points taken from Gryffindor." Students like Colin Creevey, Veruca Ambry, and Florence Tolliver groaned. "As I was saying before Sellick interrupted, Professor Lupin has not left any record of the topics you have covered so far, so today we shall discuss werewolves," Snape announced.

"But, sir!" shouted Colin. "We're due to start hinkypunks!"

"Since your Defense Against The Dark Arts teacher is temporarily out, _I _say what we start and don't start, Mister Creevey," Snape argued.

"Professor Lupin is the best Defense Against The Dark Arts teacher we've ever had!" exclaimed Landon.

"You are easily satisfied," Snape pointed out. "I can't bear to just let you settle on trivial creatures such as hinkypunks. Now all of you turn to page 394." He glanced around the room. No one did; we just stared. "_All_ of you! _Now_!" With insolent stares and muttering from the students, the class opened their books. "Which one of you can tell me how we distinguish between the werewolf and the true wolf?" said Snape. No one raised their hand. "Anyone?" he asked irritably. "Pity. I thought that maybe Lupin might have even taught you the basic distinction between the two."

"We haven't gotten there yet, sir," I shouted out.

"_Quiet_," said Snape, glaring down at me. "I am appalled. I should probably mention it to Dumbledore that your class is very far behind."

"But we're second years, Professor!" I yelled, aggravated. "We shouldn't be learning about werewolves yet!"

"That is the fourth time you've spoken out of turn, Miss Sellick," said Snape coolly. "That will be five _more _points taken from Gryffindor since you are being such an attention hog."

"I wasn't calling for attention," I whispered to Ginny. She shrugged.

For the rest of the class Snape prowled up and down the rows of desks, examining the work we had been doing with Professor Lupin. "Terrible choice of words…That is incorrect, the kappa is more commonly found in Mongolia…Lupin isn't grading your papers correctly. He gave this a nine out of ten? I'd say a five…"

The bell rang. "Thank you god," I said.

"Not. So. Fast. Students," Snape said slowly. "You will each write an essay, to be handed in to me, on the ways you recognize and kill werewolves. I want two rolls of parchment on the subject, and I want them by Monday morning. It is time somebody took this class in hand."

While I was researching the werewolf in the common room that night I came across something rather peculiar. It mentioned that a werewolf's worst fear was the full moon, so that's what the boggart would turn into in their presence. Then I remembered Remus Lupin when he jumped in front of me to protect me from Tom Riddle and the boggart turned into a full moon. This confused me greatly, and made me ponder. Was Lupin a _werewolf_? Was this another danger of Hogwarts?

"Ginny," I whispered. "Look." I showed her the paragraph in my library book. "See that? The sentence about the full moon and the boggart?"  
"Yes, Amy," Ginny replied.

"Do you happen to remember what the boggart turned into when Lupin stepped in front of it in class?" I wanted to know.

"Yes," she said. "It turned into a full moon, and then when he cried '_Riddikulus_' it turned into a balloon."

"But the thing about the full moon," I began, "do you think Lupin could be a…?"

Ginny made a face. "Oh, _no_!" she exclaimed. "Not Professor _Lupin_! Maybe Professor Snape…"

"No, but Snape's worst fear isn't a _full moon_," I reminded her.

"How do we know _that_?" she asked. Then she chuckled lightheartedly.

I didn't chuckle. "If Lupin's afraid of the full moon," I continued, "and that's kind of a random thing to be afraid of-"

"He might just be afraid of the dark," Ginny suggested.

"The moon isn't dark, Ginny, unless it's _new_," I pointed out. "If anything it's _light_. Maybe _that's_ why Lupin was out today. There's a full moon out one of these nights. Don't you see? It all _fits_!"

"Amy," she said with a lighthearted smile, "I know you like to get your homework done early and you want to finish your essay before the weekend but you need to take your mind off of things. Get some sleep. We'll continue in the morning. That's enough studying for you."

When we were back in our dormitory, I was laying in my bed, wide awake. I couldn't stop thinking about the possibility of the brilliant Professor Lupin being a werewolf. Maybe if he was _that_ was the reason Professor Snape was poisoning him! He would probably want to kill him for being a werewolf! It all made sense! When I would have my next meeting with Lupin I would ask him. Then I'd know for sure.

............

Author's Note: Aaagggh! Amy Sellick is terrified because of the possibility that everyone's favorite Defense Against The Dark Arts teacher might be a werewolf. When he saved her from the Tom Riddle boggart in the last chapter it turned into a full moon, and that is supposed to be a werewolf's worst fear. So is the kindly professor really a foul creature? Is the evil prisoner Sirius Black lurking the corridors of Hogwarts? Is the academy really unsafe?


	4. The Mysterious Professor

Author's Note: Review- Amy Sellick and most everyone else at Hogwarts grow a fondness for their new Defense Against The Dark Arts teacher, Professor Remus Lupin. He rescued her from a boggart in class that resembled Tom Riddle. Then when he stood in front of it the boggart turned into a full moon. Since Professor Severus Snape gave her class an essay about werewolves, there is something that mentions their worst fear is a full moon…

DISCLAIMER: I do not own _Harry Potter _or its characters. They belong to J.K. Rowling.

............

4. The Mysterious Professor

I woke up that morning to the sound of loud clapping thunder. Today was the day of the big Quidditch match- Gryffindor versus Hufflepuff. I decided I was going to miss the match though, since there was terrible weather and I wasn't fond of lightning. "Oh, no you don't!" Ginny argued, grabbing me by the arm. In her other hand she held two red-and-gold umbrellas- one for me and one for her. She wasn't going to let me miss the match without a fight.

Just like I predicted, when we were out on the Quidditch field, there was heavy rain pouring down, loud thunder, but not yet was there brilliant flashes of lightning (I was grateful). The very appearance of it was menacing. I took one of the umbrellas from her and held it over my head carefully as I climbed up the bleachers. The last thing I needed was to be drenched in a big crowd of people.

"Oh, _no_!" I cried. My medium brown hair was already soaked, which made it look about four shades deeper than it really was.

Ginny laughed. "It's just your _hair_, Amy," she said. "You're not going to die. Look at mine." She lifted a strand of her hair, which now looked even wetter than mine did. She stopped laughing. "Look at that git," she said angrily.

"Who?" I asked. I noticed where she was looking; it was across the field at the Slytherin bleachers. Malfoy was there, pretending to caress his broken arm.

"I bet it doesn't even hurt him much," she growled. "I bet he's just scared of some thunder."

"Or lightning," I suggested, referring to my own fear.

"It makes me sick just looking at him," Ginny muttered, rolling her eyes.

"Then let's just ignore him," I pointed out. Even though that was the farthest thing from what I could do. Once I saw him anywhere, I was hooked, and I didn't seem to notice anything else. So I kept looking down at my lap and up at him.

Just before I could see the Gryffindors walking out Ginny's umbrella whipped out of her hand. "Uh, oh," she said. She ran off to go chasing after it. Since she wasn't there, I decided to glare at Malfoy without her noticing. I was far away enough, but for some reason I felt as if he noticed my mean stare. Because he was smirking right back at me. When I noticed this, I shied, and looked away.

"There they are," said Ginny, holding her umbrella much tighter in her hand now. "They're not going to stand a chance. It's much too windy outside."

"Maybe not," I pointed out. "Why would it make the Hufflepuffs stand any more chance than the Gryffindors? It's equal."

"Look at him though, Amy," said Ginny, pointing down at Harry. "He's staggering sideways. It's much too strong."

Then the Hufflepuffs approached from the opposite side of the field. They were wearing canary yellow robes, like the Gryffindors were wearing scarlet. The captains (Cedric Diggory and Oliver Wood) walked up to each other and shook hands. In preference of captains, I almost wanted Cedric to win, but he didn't represent our house. So then I preferred Oliver Wood again at once.

"Mount your brooms!" Madam Hooch was supposed to exclaim. I mean, I saw her mouth move, but I couldn't hear her over the screeching winds. I could hear her whistle blow though.

Harry's Nimbus 2000 broom rose, but it was swerving slightly. It took less than five minutes before each of the team players were soaking wet. Now I could only see streaks of bright yellow and bright red flying through the air. My rain cloak was getting drenched itself, even though I was still clutching my umbrella.

The sky was getting darker and then I forgot it was only the morning. There came the first flash of lightning; gulp. I saw it at the same time I heard Madam Hooch's whistle. Apparently Oliver Wood had called for time-out. When time-out was over Harry continued to look for the Golden Snitch. I gasped at the sight of another forked flash of lightning. Ginny held onto my arm.

Harry flew up to a large rain cloud, which resembled a large, shaggy black dog. Then he dove down. The cloud formed into a different shape now.

"Harry!" I heard Wood yell from one of the Gryffindor goal posts. "Harry, behind you!"

"Oh, no!" Ginny gasped. A tear ran down her cheek.

"What?" I asked. All of a sudden the field became colder…eerier…quieter. Flying underneath Harry I could see at least a hundred dementors. Their hidden faces were pointing up at him. He started falling through the icy mist. Luckily, though, he slowed down before he reached the ground.

"Aaagggh!" many girls screamed, including myself. Ginny ran down to the field. "Ginny, _nooooo_!" I called, following her down through the crowded bleachers. We made it to the field and surrounded Harry's fallen body. We looked up and saw Dumbledore. He had ran down to the field too. He was shooting silver stuff at the dementors, looking furious. They slowly disappeared one by one.

"Professor Dumbledore," I said. "What happened?"

"Those damned dementors," said Dumbledore, his tone much more angry than I had ever heard him before. "They weren't supposed to interrupt the game!"

"But what _happened_?" I asked. Dumbledore didn't hear me over the winds.

"They must have made Harry faint again," Hermione began, "but this time from fifty feet high up in the air."

I looked up at the Slytherin bleachers. There I could see Draco Malfoy cracking up with his friends.

"Come now, students," said Professor McGonagall, referring to all of the students on the field, which included Ron, Hermione, Carly, all of the Gryffindor team members, and Ginny and me.

"Wait, Ginny," I said as she started to leave. "Let's wait."

"Don't you want to take Harry to the hospital wing?" she asked me.

"Not necessarily, no," I replied. "We'll visit him some other time."

"Well," said Ginny scoffing. "Whether you want to take him there or not _I'm_ going. I don't really know what kind of business _you_ want to deal with." Then she started marching off.

I ignored her. As the Slytherins started coming down from the bleachers I bravely ran up to Malfoy. "You ass!" I shouted. "Laughing about Harry and the dementors! He could have _died_!"

"Did you hear that, Goyle?" asked Malfoy, standing up on his tiptoes and looking around as if he didn't hear me. "Is someone speaking to me?"

"No, I don't hear anything, boss," Goyle joked stupidly. He cracked up.

"_Yes_, someone _is_ speaking to you!" I pointed out, hitting Malfoy on the head lightly with my umbrella.

"Whoa," said Malfoy, sneering. "Do you have issues, little girl? Whacking an innocent student with your weapon?"

"It's not a weapon!" I shouted, appalled. "It's an umbrella! And I just bumped you, that's it!"

"Listen little girl," he said in a mocking voice, "I'm not sure who you are-"

"I'm Amy Sellick!" I shouted. "You damn well know who _I_ am! Our fathers are friends! You torment me often!"

"Yes," Malfoy said, frowning. "I _do_ know who you are, but sometimes I wish I didn't. I don't care about how rich your father is; he likes Muggles. Maybe _that's_ why he married one, _duh_!" His friends cracked up some more.

"I didn't come here to talk to you about my parents, _Malfoy_!" I reminded him. "I came here to shut you up about Harry and the dementors! It's not his fault that maybe he's had some worst past experiences than _you've_ had! You and your perfect little life with your perfect little pure-blooded family and your filthy rich father…Wait! That's right; he's been sacked as a school governor! Say, Malfoy, did Lucius find himself another job yet?"

Malfoy looked murderous now. "He's still tight with the Minister, for your information," he replied. "Oh and um by the way, he's going to have Buckbeak proven guilty in no time, I can promise you. So kiss your little imaginary hippogriff friend goodbye- the one you didn't even get to meet. Wow, you _are_ pitiful, Sellick. There really _is _no hope for you."

"Ugh!" I yelled, reaching over and punching Malfoy in the broken arm.

"_Ow_!" he cried. His friends gasped. "Mark my words, I'm going to get you for this one, you filthy little half-breed!" Malfoy shouted, starting to run after me.

"She isn't worth it, Draco," said Blaise Zambini.

"Yeah," Pansy Parkinson agreed. "You know she likes you. Otherwise she wouldn't care if you laughed at Potty."

"That's just too bad for her," Malfoy began, "because I wouldn't touch her if she was the last witch on earth! That ugly little freak!"

I started off, a huge lump in my throat forming. After I made it into the castle the tears started coming uncontrollably. I couldn't believe it. Did he really call me _ugly_? So _that _was it? _That_ was what he thought about me?

For hours I remained in the girls' bathroom, crying. I sat with my butt on one of the toilets, which felt gross after a while, but I didn't care. I _was_ gross. No. I was an ugly little freak.

"Whee!" I heard someone exclaim merrily in one of the stalls. Startled, I opened my stall and walked out. Then I saw Moaning Myrtle, the ghost that haunted one of the girl bathrooms at Hogwarts. I forgot it was this one. She was enjoying herself far too much gliding in and out of the empty stalls.

"Have fun someplace else," I demanded courageously. "No offense but I'm just not in the mood."

"Excuse me?" asked Myrtle, putting her hands on her hips.

"I said I'm not in the mood," I replied.

She started snuffling. "Well," she began, "I'm _never_ in the mood. And the one time I _am_ in the mood someone tells me they're _not _in the mood, which brings me down. Can't you see? I can't win."

"I can't either, Myrtle," I said sighing. "I can't either."

Just then the bathroom doors burst open. "Amy!" Ginny exclaimed. "I've been looking all over for you!" She grabbed me by the arm. "Come to the Gryffindor common room! I'm making Harry a card! Come see!"

When we were at the Gryffindor common room Ginny showed me her card. It had an amateurish drawing of Harry on his Nimbus 2000 on the cover. The card was scarlet and gold, like the Gryffindor colors. When you opened it, it sang a terrible, shrill song. I immediately closed it and piled my bags on top of it. "It's…" I began, not sure of what to say. "It's very sweet, Ginny," I assured her. She blushed.

"I'm going to take it down to him," she pointed out. Then her expression changed. She looked serious now. "Were you…don't tell me you were…"

"Crying?" I said quickly. "Oh, no, not _me_! _Crying_? Pish posh!"

"Your face is quite red," she pointed out, "and your eyes are bloodshot."

"Lack of sleep?" I suggested.

"No," she said. "You didn't look this way in the morning."

"Fine," I sighed. "I _was_ crying."

"About what?" she asked.

I stopped myself before I said _Malfoy_, so I lied. "For Harry Potter. Poor bloke. He fell off his broom."

"It is quite sad, isn't it?" she said. She didn't seem convinced though. "Come on. Let's go to Madam Pomfrey's."

When we went to Madam Pomfrey's Ginny, who was blushing madly, gave Harry her card. "I made it just for you," she said shyly.

"Why thanks, Ginny," he said, looking at the moving picture on the front. "What does it do?"

"It sings," Ginny said nervously. Last Valentine's Day she had given Harry a singing card too and he didn't particularly like it, so she was very nervous.

Harry opened the card. The horrific voice started singing and he shut it. It was struggling to sing some more, so he threw his bowl of fruit on top of it. He gave Ginny a nervous smile. "What would I do without it?" he said kindly.

"Goodbye, Harry," I said. "We need to catch up on homework- work on our essays for Defense Against The Dark Arts. We still have to finish them."

"Thanks for reminding me," said Harry. "Goodbye, Amy. Ginny." Ginny blushed on the way out. She was lucky. Even if he didn't particularly like the cards she made him, at least her crush was nice to her.

At night Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, and Carly Perry met with us in the Gryffindor common room. "Did you hear?" said Ron Weasley. "His Nimbus 2000 crashed into the Whomping Willow. A beauty, it was, before its fall."

"That's awful," said Ginny. "Aren't those expensive?"

"Yeah," said Ron. "And you _know_ what the word 'expensive' means to us _Weasleys_." I said nothing. I had nothing to say after that bitter truth.

"_Harry's_ okay though and that's all that matters," said Carly.

"That's right," said Hermione. "Let's all get to bed now." So we did.

The next morning was Sunday. It was my birthday. The Gryffindors in the common room celebrated with me. Not all of the ones I wanted though. Ron, Hermione and Carly were all down at Madam Pomfrey's, visiting Harry 24/7. They each wished me a happy birthday though, and told me Harry did the same. My owl Silvermist gave me a letter from my mum and dad saying that they wished me a happy birthday and so did Cornelius Fudge and the Ministry. They also wished me luck in my teenaged years. Yes, I was thirteen now.

"Let's give Amy the cake!" exclaimed Dean Thomas. He, Seamus Finnigan, and Neville Longbottom were all wearing party hats.

"Alright, then!" exclaimed Fred Weasley. "Here you go, Amy!" He and George were holding both ends of the silver plate that held a delicious-looking _and_ smelling cake- vanilla with pink roses all over it. There were thirteen rotating, spinning candles all over the top. "Your favorite: simply vanilla!"

"Thanks, you guys!" I exclaimed. If I hadn't been holding the cake I would have hugged both of them. "Thirteen candles and everything!"

"_Fourteen_," George corrected.

"Huh?" I said.

"There are _thirteen_," George began, "but we say fourteen because we don't want to give you bad luck."

"Right," I said smiling. When everyone was finished singing me a happy birthday tune Colin Creevey took a picture with his Muggle camera as I blew out the _fourteen_ candles. I received many gifts and presents from people. Ginny made me a singing card (of course) and a friendship necklace. She told me she had one just like it.

"Made it myself," she said proudly.

"Thank you, Ginny," I said, hugging her. "You are the best friend ever."

I received various objects from Zonko's Joke Shop from Fred and George (such as whoopee cushions, key chains of smiley faces that snicker, silly putty, etc.), a miniature soccer ball from Dean Thomas, a Remembrall from Neville Longbottom ("In case you forget something," he told me), an emerald necklace from Seamus (which I thanked him greatly for), and so many other things.

Colin Creevey gave me a Muggle camera and a picture frame, Madeleine Meander gave me a notebook, Veruca Ambry (even) gave me a gift card to one of her favorite shopping malls, Florence Tolliver gave me nothing, and Parvati Patil and her best friend Lavender Brown gave me things such as glow-in-the-dark makeup and nail polish. I thanked them all.

I knew I had so many good friends and I need not have Draco Malfoy care for me, but the whole time I couldn't stop thinking that I wished _he_ were celebrating my birthday too. It was kind of like the way I felt last Christmas when I found the Mirror of Erised in my dad's secret magic room; I wanted Malfoy to be kind and accept me. But I knew that was a fool's dream.

On Monday morning at breakfast Harry Potter was back to normal. He ignored Malfoy, who over at the Slytherin table, was taunting him and making impressions of him falling off his broom.

"Will he come off it already?" said Ginny.

"Yeah, I wish he _would_," I agreed angrily. Another thing that annoyed me was that Malfoy's bandages were off his broken arm and he was able to fully use both of them now. I focused hard on the sight of him and all of a sudden his cereal flew up in the air and pounded his face. I laughed silently.

"Aagggh!" Malfoy cried. "Who did that?"

"I don't know," said AnnaSophia Leach. "Last time I listened to the rules at Hogwarts they mentioned something about _not being able to use magic outside of class_! What do _you _think, Pansy?"

"What happened?" asked Pansy, seeming completely unaware.

When we walked into Defense Against The Dark Arts Professor Lupin returned. Students started yelling things at him at once. "He was only filling in, that _snake_!" someone yelled. "Why did he give us homework?"

"We're not supposed to learn about werewolves yet-"

"-_two_ rolls of parchment!"

"Did you tell Professor Snape we haven't covered them yet?" asked Lupin.

"Yes, but he said we were _very_ behind-"

"-he didn't care-"

"-_two rolls of parchment_!"

Professor Lupin smiled warmly. "Don't worry. I already told my other classes I would speak to Professor Snape. You don't have to do the essay."

"Oh _no_," I sighed. "I've already _finished _it!" Ginny chuckled amusedly.

Lupin brought a hinkypunk- a little one-legged creature who looked as though he were made of wisps of smoke, rather frail and harmless-looking- in a glass box. "Lures travelers into bogs," Lupin said as we took notes. "You notice the lantern dangling from his hand? Hops ahead- people follow the light- then-" The hinkypunk made a horrible squelching noise against the glass.

When the bell rang I stayed behind. "Professor Lupin?" I said. "What about our meetings?"

"I almost forgot!" Lupin exclaimed, clapping his hand to his forehead. "The next Hogsmeade trip for the older students- it's just the very weekend before term ends. What do you say- we meet then?"

"Mid-to-late December, sir?" I asked a bit disappointed. "Well, sure."

"Good," said Lupin. "See you tomorrow. Miss Sellick."

"See you," I said as I started out. "Oh, wait!" I ran back into the classroom. "I finished the essay, if you'd like to read it."

Lupin looked uneasy. "Why, thank you, Miss Sellick," he said quietly. "You really shouldn't have-"

"I only do what I'm told to, sir," I pointed out. "If I'm given an assignment, I hop to it, no matter _how_ reluctant I am."

"Well, _that's_ the spirit!" exclaimed Lupin, putting on a fake smile. "Keep up the good work! Attitude determines your altitude, they say. Goodbye now." He seemed so eager to have me gone, but I left anyway.

At the end of November Ravenclaw flattened Hufflepuff in a Quidditch match. When Ginny and I visited Harry in his Quidditch practices through December we noticed that Oliver Wood was working his team a bit too hard and impetuously ("I think he's off his rocker," Harry would say to us, making Ginny giggle). There were no hints of dementors on the grounds; Dumbledore's anger must have been keeping them at their stations at the entrances.

Two weeks before the end of term the sky lightened and suddenly turned into a dazzling white and the muddy grounds were revealed one morning covered in glittering frost. It was very Christmassy inside the castle. Professor Flitwick had already decorated his classroom with shimmering lights that turned out to be real, fluttering fairies. Everyone was chattering about their plans for Christmas. Ron and Hermione were staying with Harry. I was going home again.

On the Saturday morning of the Hogsmeade trip I entered Lupin's classroom. "Come on in, Miss Sellick," he said. He was standing right by a cupboard. There was rattling inside of it. "The boggart's in the cupboard. Figured we could do some practice."

I gulped. "That sounds like a great idea, Professor Lupin," I assured him.

"Stand right here," said Lupin. He gently grabbed my shoulders and moved me to a particular spot in the room. "So you're directly facing the boggart when it comes out." A jet of sparks shot out from the end of his wand and hit the doorknob of the cupboard. My heart sank as the doors open.

Tom Riddle was there again. He was coming toward me. "Go away!" I yelled at him, tears streaming down my cheeks. "You can't tell me what to do! You can't tell Ginny what to do! You can't kill Harry!" He laughed quietly and evilly as he lifted his wand.

"_Nooooo_!" yelled Lupin. He was standing behind me. "Amy, yell '_Riddikulus_'! Talking to it won't do you any good-"

"_Riddikus_," I said quietly. It didn't do anything.

"_Riddikulus_! Amy, not _Riddikus_," said Lupin. When he said this, Tom Riddle's wand hit me. I felt an electrical shock and fell to the ground. "_Riddikulus_!" Lupin yelled. I was on the ground before I could see what the boggart would turn into. I heard something make a banging noise as it hit the inside of the cupboard. Lupin locked it quickly.

"I'm sorry, Professor," I said, getting up. "I couldn't…it was too scary…it was so real…I never had to _really_ face Tom Riddle before…"

"It isn't your fault," said Lupin. He stepped closer to me and lowered his voice. "You know I didn't bring you here to teach you how to protect yourself from boggarts, Amy. I brought you here to prepare you just in case you should ever come face-to-face with Lord Voldemort."

The blood drained from my face. "Am I _really_ going to have to face Lord Voldemort?" I asked, not really caring whether I said His name or not anymore.

"Nothing's for sure," Lupin continued, "but He's trying to become strong again, and nothing's _impossible_."

"So what do I do," I began, "if in the future I meet Him?"

"There are different sorts of spells," said Lupin, walking around the room, his hands folded. "I can teach them to you if you'd like. But first, show this nasty boggart who's boss."

I sighed. "Fine," I said. "I mean, I know it sounds easy and all, but it's just Tom Riddle, he's so intimidating-"

"I understand, Amy," he said. "It's not your fault. It's alright. Now stand where I told you to, directly in front of the cupboard." He held up his wand. "Now I'm going to unleash the monster again. Are you ready?" I nodded. "Good," said Lupin. The sparks from his wand hit the cupboard doorknob and Tom Riddle came out again, smirking heinously.

"_Riddikulus_!" I shouted for the first time. Then Tom screamed as he disappeared into a diary and it started bleeding ink. Lupin whispered something and the defeated diary flew back into the cupboard. He locked it with his wand.

"Excellent job, Miss Amy!" he exclaimed merrily. "And such accurate focus! Such a bright young witch; I would have expected it from Filbert Sellick's daughter anyway! You've really done him proud!"

"It was nothing," I said meekly, looking down at my shoes. It was true; people overstated my abilities since my father had been so great.

"No, but it _was_ something!" he disagreed. "Now how about those fighting curses I promised you?" For the next hour and a half Lupin did nothing but tell me how to fight Voldemort off in case I ever had to meet Him. "You are truly amazing!" Lupin exclaimed, but I still felt humble, meaning no matter how many times he'd say it I wouldn't feel any better. I guess it was just because I didn't know amazing I really was. Who knows? Maybe I _was _that amazing!

"Thank you, Professor Lupin," I said.

"Oh, no need thank me, Amy," said Lupin, lifting the same goblet from his desk I had seen him drinking a few months before. "It's all _your_ doing. You are literally one of the best witches I had ever taught this year. I'm also impressed about you finishing that essay Severus assigned, even when nobody _else_ did it! Gave you extra credit points, I did, and some Gryffindor points too!"

Then I remembered the idea of Lupin being a werewolf. "Professor," I said meekly, moving back and forth on my heels.

"What is it, Miss Amy?" he asked.

"You _are_ a wizard, _aren't_ you?" I asked him.

He gave me a funny look as he put his goblet down. "Of course I am," he said. "What else would I be?"

"Um, I'm not sure…" I replied. "I was just wondering about the boggart… about how it turned into full moon during the first week of school…"

Lupin's sickly pallid face turned even greener now. "Oh, yes!" he replied. "About that; why do you need to know?"

"Because I mentioned something about it in my essay," I replied. "Are you a…?" I couldn't finish the sentence. I was so embarrassed.

"_Oh_, heavens, _no_, Miss Amy!" he replied breathlessly, shaking his head. "_Me_? A w-_werewolf_? Goodness, _no_! No, I'm just a bit afraid of the night, you know, have some nasty memories of the full moon…when I was a boy…_afraid_ of werewolves, actually. Funny thing the boggart didn't turn into one, no?"

"Yes," I said, raising an eyebrow suspiciously. "Funny indeed."

"I think it's time you go visit your friends in the common room again, Miss Amy," he said, gesturing toward the door. "I may need to pay Severus a visit. See you after Christmas break, alright?"

I left through out the door. I guess it sounded possible- Lupin being _afraid_ of werewolves. But why didn't a werewolf show itself then? Maybe because a full moon was meant to warn you that werewolves were out and about…but wait- why did he sound all breathless and nervous? Was he hiding something? I wasn't sure if I'd ever find out, but I sure wanted to.

The Christmas holidays were finally starting. Even though Ron Weasley mentioned he was staying at Hogwarts (he didn't want to go home with Percy) all of his siblings were going back to the Weasley home. And they invited my parents and me over too. "I can't wait," said Ginny. "It's so unbelievable; you're going to get to spend Christmas break with us."

"I can't wait either," I agreed. "It sounds splendid." After several thousand hours of gossiping in the Hogwarts Express we were back at King's Cross Station. There we saw our parents talking to each other.

"Hello!" each set of parents called to us.

"Mum! Dad!" exclaimed Fred and George, running up to their parents happily. Percy was huffing and puffing as he carried his stuff toward them. This caused Ginny and me to laugh. This was going to be a much happier start to Christmas break then it had been last year.

At the Weasleys' home downstairs Dad and Mr. Weasley were talking about topics related to the Ministry. Mum and Mrs. Weasley were down in the kitchen, chatting about things your typical mother would talk about. Percy was upstairs, probably writing letters to his beloved Penelope Clearwater. Fred and George were in Ron's room, probably ransacking through his drawers and making a mess. Ginny and I were in her bedroom watching some things on television.

"Did you find anything interesting yet?" I asked her.

"No," she replied, a blank expression on her face as she continued flipping through the static channels with a remote. "Muggle entertainment can be a bit boring sometimes, don't you think?"

"Yes," I said, feeling a bit sad. Mum was a Muggle.

"I'm not being prejudice," said Ginny, giving me an assuring look. "I love Muggles. Just…not their entertainment so much." I nodded.

"If we're so bored," I said, "I think we should go downstairs and listen to what our dads are saying."

"Alright," said Ginny, shrugging. "But we have to make ourselves invisible and unheard. How are we going to manage that?"

"Hmmm," I said.

"Let's ask Fred and George," said Ginny.

"Hey look, Fred," said George. "Customers."

"Talk to us," Fred told Ginny and me.

"We want to listen to what our dads are saying," Ginny began, "without being noticed. Do you boys have any ideas?"

"Ah, the Extendable Ears," Fred suggested.

"No, Fred," said Ginny, shaking her head. "Remember you got caught before the school year using _that_? You shan't use that again until _much_ later from now. Maybe Mum and Dad won't remember it that way."

"Hmmm," said Fred.

"Hey, Ginny," I said. "How about we just pretend to get something downstairs? You know, and ignore them?"

"You're right," said Ginny. "Let's go." We went down the spiral steps and then we could finally start hearing our fathers. Ginny put her finger to her lip as we got even closer.

"I know Buckbeak is misunderstood, Arthur," I heard my father say, "but he is also a dangerous, vicious animal. He slashed Draco Malfoy's arm-"

"You're _wrong_, Filbert!" Mr. Weasley argued. This made me very uneasy. From the sound of things our fathers were _fighting_.

"Uh oh," I said. "I'm not sure if I want to stay down-" Ginny grabbed me by the arm so I wouldn't move.

"No," she said. "Stay. Listen."

"Girls!" cried Mr. Weasley, looking up at us, startled. "What are _you_ doing down here?"

"We were hungry, Father," Ginny replied. "We wanted to eat some of the Christmas candies. Heard you bought them from Honeydukes. My favorites."

"Well, we won't bother you then," said Mr. Weasley, sounding just as uneasy as I was. He probably didn't want us to hear him fighting with my dad.

"So," I began as Ginny started searching through the kitchen, "what were you two talking about just now?" When I said this Ginny's eyes became so huge I thought they were going to pop up right off her face.

"Oh, that," said Dad. "Some things about work, the Ministry, a complaint made by Lucius Malfoy…"

I gulped. "Is it about Buckbeak?" I asked, even though I knew it was.

"Um…yes…darling," said Dad.

"He's still at it, that Lucius!" Mr. Weasley said angrily, standing up and throwing down the newspaper he was holding. "He thinks he's got the Disposal of Dangerous Creatures in his pocket; poor Rubeus Hagrid doesn't stand a chance!"

"Is Hagrid going to be alright?" I asked.

"Yes," said Mr. Weasley. "They've accepted the assurances from Professor Dumbledore that he had no responsibility for what Buckbeak did, but knowing that Draco kid I can assure you he had the hippogriff scratch him on purpose-"

"We needn't go that far, Arthur," said Dad coolly. "Maybe Buckbeak _was_ to blame. Maybe Lucius is just a concerned parent…"

"_Concerned parent_?!" Mr. Weasley repeated loudly, not seeming to care if we heard them argue anymore. "Trust me, Filbert; I know Lucius and he is _no_ concerned parent! The very idea of it makes me want to vomit!" Ginny blushed.

"I know Lucius too, Arthur," Dad pointed out, "and he really isn't as menacing and terrible as you believe he is to be. He's just very controversial. And if the boy stepped in front of the hippogriff that doesn't make it Lucius' fault-"

"Lucius is a _killer_!" Mr. Weasley argued. "Knowing him he'll have the poor creature _executed_! _Executed_, Filbert! How do you expect Rubeus will feel?"

"Let's go back upstairs, Amy," said Ginny, looking badly shaken as she grabbed my arm.

"Wait," I said. I ran over to where the newspaper was dropped. I picked it up and brought it to Ginny's room with her. "I have the article."

"Good," said Ginny. "Let's see."

There was a picture of Lucius Malfoy. Since it was from the _Daily Prophet_, he was swaying back and forth, smirking for the camera. It made me sick how smug he looked. He was wearing dazzling, deep blue robes and all his long, brilliant white-blond hair up in a ponytail. Next to him there was the article. Underneath the article, there was a picture of a miserable Hagrid, hitching a creature with the body of a horse, and the head, wings, and claws of a griffin. It looked terribly upset too.

"He's such an aristocrat," said Ginny, pointing to the picture of Lucius. "I think that's why my dad hates him so much, aside from him being one of his worst enemies. Aside from him being the father of Draco. We bet he's a Death Eater."

"_Lucius_?" I asked with a lurch in my stomach.

"It's only a hunch," Ginny assured me. I hoped so. I hated it how Lucius was so rude to Arthur Weasley and how much Mr. Weasley took it to heart even when he shouldn't. I hated my dad's optimistic friendship and attitude toward Lucius, even when he was friends with Lucius' enemy Mr. Weasley too and I was enemies with Lucius' son, Draco. I hated how much Lucius hated Hagrid and how he was going to possibly have his hippogriff murdered. I hated how much Lucius resembled Draco- "Aren't you going to read the article?" Ginny wanted to know.

"Oh, right," I said.

............

Author's Note: Amy and Ginny are worried about their fathers at the moment; they think that they're having an argument about what's being mentioned in the _Daily Prophet_. Let's just say they have two very different opinions about Lucius Malfoy. Amy agrees with Mr. Weasley, but isn't about to take sides. The fate of Hagrid's is in the hands of the hearing at the Ministry. Things aren't looking too good though. Nobody's going to believe that Draco actually tried to spook Buckbeak!


	5. Sirius Returns

Author's Note: Review- First of all, Harry Potter was disturbed during a Quidditch match by a hundred dementors, and Malfoy made fun so Amy went over to yell at him and he called her _ugly_, which offended her deeply. She's still suspicious about the new D.A.D.A. teacher Professor Lupin, even though he's told her he really isn't a werewolf and he's afraid of them. She's still upset her father's malicious colleague Lucius Malfoy, who's possibly going to have a hippogriff executed!

DISCLAIMER: I do not own _Harry Potter _or its characters. They belong to J.K. Rowling.

............

5. Sirius Returns

Soon enough it was Christmas morning. "Wake up, Amy!" shouted Ginny, shaking me in my bed. "Presents downstairs! Come down!"

"I'm up!" I replied. I eventually got out of bed. I followed her downstairs. We were both still dressed in our pajamas.

"Happy Christmas, girls!" exclaimed Mrs. Weasley, balancing a delicious-looking gingerbread cake on a plate in her hands. It resembled a gingerbread house and there were several enchanted gingerbread people tossing gumdrop (snow) balls at each other playfully.

"Happy Christmas, Mrs. Weasley!" I said. Ginny said the same thing, but instead of saying 'Mrs. Weasley' she said 'Mum'. I was extremely relieved to see Dad and Mr. Weasley sitting next to each other at the table. They looked fine with each other, as if they were in no argument before.

"Happy Christmas, ladies!" cheered Fred and George, running past us to sit at their breakfast table.

"Happy Christmas to you too, Fred," I said. "And George."

"Happy Christmas, Weasleys!" said Percy. He was in his pajamas too. For once he wasn't looking so formal.

"And _Sellicks_," Mrs. Weasley reminded him, rubbing his cheek with her thumb.

"Right, right," said Percy. "And Happy Christmas to you too, Sellicks."

"It's a shame Ronald isn't here," said Mr. Weasley.

"It'll be alright, Arthur," my dad assured him. "He must enjoy staying the break over at Hogwarts with his friends Harry and Hermione. By the way, has Ron ever written you lately? Told you about his year?"

"Yes, Filbert!" Mrs. Weasley replied. "He says it's been grand, except for the fact that's Sirius Black-"

"Right," said Mr. Weasley. He looked down, terrified.

"Sirius Black?" Dad repeated. "Amy, darling, you haven't told me about Sirius Black-"

"Sirius Black?" Mum repeated. "Who's _that_?"

"Tell us, Amy," Dad began, "what's been happening with Sirius Black."

"Okay," I said, sighing. "No one's sure, but we think that he's roaming around the corridors at Hogwarts."

Dad's expression became utterly serious. "And you didn't tell me this?" he wanted to know.

"I also forgot to mention that I _met_ him," I added. Dad's jaw dropped.

"It's true, sir," said Percy. "I heard her tell Professor Albus Dumbledore himself. Because I'm a prefect and I was asked to stay up late with all of the students there on Halloween night-"

"Did he hurt you, Amy?" Dad asked.

"No," I replied. "He told me to beware of Peter Pettigrew though."

"Peter Pettigrew's dead," Mr. Weasley said.

"I know," I pointed out. "I've been told that, but that's what he _said_."

"This is serious, Amy," said Dad. "Are you the only one who met Sirius?"

"Pretty much, yes."

"How did it happen?"

"I was going to the bathroom and I came across him in the corridors-"

"Don't. Ever. Walk. To the bathroom alone again, my love."

"_Who_ is she talking about?" Mum wondered. "Who _is_ this man?"

"He's a terrible killer," said Dad.

Mum clasped her hand to her mouth in horror. "Our daughter spoke to a-?"

"What?" I said, ignoring Mum and looking at Dad. "He isn't any worse than your hippogriff-executing buddy Lucius Malfoy! Oh, and did I even mention to you about how much I _hate_ Draco?" Dad looked extremely embarrassed.

"Okay, maybe we should change the subject-" Mrs. Weasley started.

"I'm not letting her go back to that school," said Mum. "There's a killer roaming the halls."

"Rubbish, Charlotte!" Mr. Weasley assured her. "As long as she's under the protection of Professor Albus Dumbledore, she'll be safe!"

"I guess," said Mum, looking hopeful. "I heard Dumbledore is a very determined man and he won't let his students get hurt…"

"So she's staying, right?" Ginny wanted to clarify.

"Yes, sweetheart," Mum replied. "She's staying."

"Alright, Amy!" Fred and George exclaimed, giving each other high fives.

"Let's eat away!" exclaimed Percy. He seemed much more cheery than I had ever seen him before. We each ate pieces of the gingerbread cake. Looking at Mum from across the table I could see she still looked a little concerned. This made me unhappy. It was Christmas, and Christmas was supposed to be a happy holiday.

Then we opened presents. Mrs. Weasley made everyone their own sweaters and robes. We all thanked her. We received many other great things. We read the magical version of _Twas The Night Before Christmas_, where the pictures moved and even flew out of their pages. It was a real treat. Then Mum and Dad came up with an idea.

"What is it, Mr. and Mrs. Sellick?" Percy asked, speaking as formal as always.

"Well," said Dad, putting his arm around Mum, "Charlotte and I have been thinking about it, and we were wondering if you folks were up to going to a Muggle pub for Christmas?"

"Ooh, ooh!" cried Fred and George. "We're up for it!"

"Why, how fantastic, Filbert!" exclaimed Mr. Weasley. He loved Muggles and he was always up to going to their places.

When we went to Penny Pepperd's Pub that night it was finely decorated (Muggle-style) with a Christmas tree, Christmas lights, and statues of Father Christmas everywhere (speaking of Father Christmas, he had given me a music box this year). Christmas carols played throughout the pub, the sky was dark, and it was snowing outside. It was incredibly magical.

"I love this," said Ginny, biting into a cheeseburger. "Muggle food."

"Yeah," I agreed. "You might not want to say that too _loud_. A lot of people don't know what that means and it might scare them."

"Right," said Ginny, nodding.

Then I looked up. I saw a girl with straight blond hair in a ponytail, light freckles on her nose, and turquoise eyes. She looked utterly familiar then; it was Nelly Nelson, my best friend at my old Muggle school. "Hey," I said to Ginny, "I think I see someone I know."

"Who?" she wanted to know.

"Someone from my old school," I replied. Ginny looked up and she saw me looking at Nelly.

"Ew," Ginny growled.

"What?" I asked. "She was my best friend."

"Just _look_ at her," Ginny pointed out. There was a jealous look on Ginny's face, but I didn't care. I looked at Nelly again. She was wearing heavy eye makeup, a cheerleading sweater, and an arrogant smile on her face.

"Should we go talk to her?" I asked Ginny. Before she could answer I got up and pretended to make it over to the bathroom. I _accidentally_ (or intended for it to look _accidentally_) I bumped into her. "Oh, hi!" I exclaimed.

It took Nelly a moment, but when she saw my face, she beamed. "Hey, Amy!" she replied. "Where have you been all these years?"

"At a different private school," I replied.

"Oh," said Nelly, not even daring to ask what. Ginny came up from behind me. "Who's _she_?"

"That's Ginny Weasley," I replied. "She goes to my new private school."

"I _see_," she said, observing Ginny's tattered robes. "And do you need to _buy_ your way into this private school, or is it only based on _skill_?"

"It's _skill_," I assured her, getting the hint of rudeness almost five minutes later. I was like my dad in that way; if someone implied something rude he would often notice five minutes later.

"Good," she said, chuckling. "I was just checking."

"And what's _your_ name?" Ginny asked, crossing her arms and glaring.

"I'm Nelly Nelson," she replied.

"And let me guess," Ginny continued, "your brother's first name is _Neil_."

Nelly frowned. "_No_, but from the looks of things, _you_ need a brother."

"Really?" Ginny challenged. "I have _six_."

"What are their names?"

"Bill, Charlie, Percy, Fred, George, and Ron."

"You need a seventh named _Money_."

"Guys," I said, raising my hands in the air. "Maybe Ginny and I will go then, Nelly. How does that sound?"

"Clear as a bell," Nelly said, smiling sarcastically. Ginny clenched her fist. As we walked away I saw Nelly snicker out of the corner of my eye.

"I hate her," said Ginny.

"Me _too_," I said, agreeing for the first time. "I don't get it. She used to be so nice. I don't understand why best friends are like this, especially on Christmas."

"She's gotten too good for you, _that's _why," said Ginny. "She's moved on now, and is probably hanging out with several other girls like herself. I may not know much about normalcy, Amy, but I do know _one_ thing's for sure: not all friendships last, even in the wizarding world."

I felt pinches behind my eyes. "Y-you won't leave me though, r-right, G-ginny?" I wanted to know.

"I won't," said Ginny, putting her arm around me, "no matter _how_ popular I may get. You know why? Because I'm _never_ going to be too good for _you_."

I smiled. "Thanks," I said.

"You're welcome," she said. "Now let's go home. That Nelly Nelson is breathing our air- her _and_ her brothers Neil, Nelbert…"

When we returned to the Hogwarts Express Percy, Fred, George, Ginny and I all sat together. For the whole ride we just talked about things. "Hey, Percy," I said casually. "Why aren't you sitting with Penelope Clearwater?" Fred, George, and Ginny smiled amusedly. They sat at the end of their seats, waiting to hear Percy's ultimate answer.

Percy frowned. "Enough with that," he demanded. Even though he was a prefect it was fun to make fun of him out of school.

When we returned to Hogwarts the night before term started word flew around that Harry received a Firebolt broom for Christmas (and he suspected it was from Sirius Black) so Professor McGonagall had to check it for jinxes. Oliver Wood, the Quidditch captain, was the most upset about this. He knew that with Harry riding something like a Firebolt Gryffindors could _win_, but not when it was in McGonagall's hands. He was always obsessive when it came to _winning_.

I also heard from Hermione that Ron kept arguing with her since Crookshanks was still chasing Scabbers. I was glad that I wasn't here over Christmas when this happened, because I wasn't the biggest fan of leaping cats or scrambling rats for that matter. I wasn't sure but it also sounded like Hermione abandoned Ron and Harry. That was terrible.

Ravenclaw played Slytherin a week after the start of term. Slytherin won, though narrowly. This was good for Gryffindor, because if they beat Ravenclaw, they would take second place. Of course the only reason I thought about it this way was because Oliver Wood often announced it in the Gryffindor common room. Then Wood told Harry that Professor McGonagall yelled at him when he told her he didn't care if the broom threw Harry off as long as he caught the Snitch first.

"Wow, that's pretty _low_," said Ginny.

"Yea," I agreed. We were overhearing.

"I reckon it's time you ordered a new broom, Harry," Wood continued. "There's an order form at the back of _Which Broomstick_…you can get a Nimbus Two Thousand and One, like Malfoy's got."

"I'm not buying anything Malfoy thinks is good," said Harry flatly. I was happy at this comeback. I hated Malfoy with a passion too.

February came soon. The bitter cold weather didn't change. The match against Ravenclaw was nearing, and Harry still didn't buy his new broom. From January all the way into February I still had meetings with Professor Lupin. In each one he either taught me a new defense spell (which I practiced against the Tom Riddle boggart) or reminded me of the possibilities that I could meet Lord Voldemort in the future. No time he said this frightened me more than the other. Each time I forgot to ask Lupin about him being a werewolf, but I would always be reminded afterward because the Remembrall Neville Longbottom gave me would always remind me.

One night Harry came into the Gryffindor common room, holding up his Firebolt. I was excited to see it but I couldn't past all the bouncing heads. There was noisy chatter: "Where'd you get it, Harry?", "Will you let me have a go?", "Have you ridden it yet, Harry?", "Ravenclaw'll have no chance, they're all on Cleansweep Sevens!", and "Can I just _hold_ it, Harry?"

Harry and Ron went over to Hermione. After working on some Transfiguration homework with Ginny for ten minutes time, there was a strangled yell down in the boys' staircase. The common room fell silent, staring, petrified, at the entrance. We heard hurried footsteps, growing louder and louder. Apparently Ron had left the common room a few minutes ago because he leapt in through the portrait hole with a bed sheet. I couldn't help laughing silently. I knew Ron was stressed out, but I don't think it was until _then_ I realized how cute he was.

"Oh, _no_," said Ginny, looking humiliated. Apparently _she_ didn't find her brother's expression cute at all; instead she found it embarrassing.

"LOOK!" Ron bellowed, striding over to Hermione's table. "LOOK!" he repeated, shaking the sheets in her face.

"Ron, what-?" she tried to ask.

"SCABBERS! LOOK! SCABBERS!" When he yelled this Ginny and I leaned in closer to the scene to see what was up with the sheets. Then we saw it- it was something red. It looked an awful lot like blood. "BLOOD!" Ron yelled in the stunned silence. "HE'S GONE! AND YOU KNOW WHAT WAS ON THE FLOOR?"

"N-no," said Hermione in a trembling voice.

Ron threw something down on Hermione's homework. It was several long, ginger cat hairs. "CROOKSHANKS _ATE_ HIM!" Ron bellowed.

"Crookshanks did nothing of the sort!" Hermione argued. "Carly, you believe me, right?"

"I'm not sure, Hermione," said Carly. "That looks to me like some pretty good proof Ron's got there."

"_See_?" said Ron. "Even _she_ believes me! And she _never_ does!"

"Well I never!" said Hermione. "My cat is disciplined; he has boundaries! He might _chase_ Scabbers but he would never _eat _him!"

"_Prove _it," said Ron.  
"Well, Scabbers isn't exactly _here_ at the moment…"

"Then there's no proof, is there?"

"No, I suppose not."

"Good. That shows how bloody wise you are." Then Ron left with his bed sheets. Everyone in the common room was rather alarmed.

"I think we should get to bed," said Ginny. So that's where we went.

For the next few days Ron and Hermione never spoke to each other again. Harry believed Ron, so he tried to point it out to her. "But based on the evidence," he began, "it is a great possibility that maybe Crookshanks…did…get…Scabbers…"

"Okay, side with Ron, I knew you would!" she said shrilly. "First the Firebolt, now Scabbers, everything's my fault, isn't it? Just leave me alone, Harry! I've got a lot of work to do!"

"Come on, Ron, you were always saying how boring Scabbers was," said Fred bracingly. "And he's been off-color for ages, he was wasting away. It was probably better for him to snuff it quickly- one swallow- he probably didn't feel a thing."

"_Fred_!" said Ginny indignantly.

"All he did was eat and sleep, you said it yourself," George reminded Ron.

"He bit Goyle for us once!" Ron said miserably. "Remember, Harry?"

"Yeah, that's true," said Harry.

"His finest hour" said Fred, unable to keep a straight face. "Let the scar on Goyle's finger stand as a lasting tribute to his memory. Oh, come on, Ron, get yourself down to Hogsmeade and buy a new rat, what's the point of moaning?"

"I'm not sure…" said Ron, thinking.

"Ginny, I always wondered something," I told her, "did _you _ever really care for Scabbers?"

"Now that you ask, not _really_," said Ginny. "But I still think it's sad."

"Yeah, it is," I agreed. Then I turned to Ron. "Hey, Ron," I said, "I'm really sorry about Scabbers. I wish I could make it up to you." Okay, that was too much.

"Thank you, Amy," he replied, smiling weakly. "But you needn't have to." Then he started snuffling again.

"It's gonna be okay," I said, patting him on the back. He was really kind of cute and I wanted to make him feel better. Sure, he didn't make me feel the way I _used_ to feel about Malfoy (I'll repeat _used to_), but he was good. But he was also my best friend's brother. Was it okay if a girl liked her best friend's brother?

I was going to miss going to the next Quidditch practice (before the match- Gryffindor versus Ravenclaw), but Harry tried to make Ron feel better by offering for him to go with him and ride on his Firebolt afterward.

The next morning as Harry entered the Great Hall heads turned in the direction of the Firebolt. The Slytherin team all looked thunderstruck, including Draco Malfoy. This made me want to laugh.

"Did you see his face?" Ron asked Harry gleefully, looking back at Malfoy. "He can't believe it! This is brilliant!"

"Put it here, Harry," said Wood, laying the broom in the middle of the table and carefully turning it so that its name faced upward. People from the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff tables were coming over to look.

"Hey, Harry!" said a lovely voice. It belonged to Cedric Diggory. As he walked toward Harry he placed his hand on my shoulder and smiled down at me. "Hello, Amy," he said.

"Hey," I replied, smiling a bit too big and stupidly. I watched him as he walked over to Harry to congratulate him on having acquired such a superb replacement for his Nimbus.

Maybe I could have started liking Cedric then, but there were a few reasons why I shouldn't have. First of all, he was three years older than me and Mum always reminded me that there were worlds between the minds of a thirteen-year-old girl and a sixteen-year-old boy. Second, he was very popular, sought after, and unattainable. And finally, the only thing he ever said to me was 'Hello, Amy'. If anything was going to happen between us we would need to at least have a conversation that lasted for more than two words.

"Now, now, Penny, no sabotage!" said Percy heartily as his girlfriend Penelope Clearwater came over from the Ravenclaw table to see the Firebolt. "Penelope and I have a bet on," he told the Gryffindor team. "Ten Galleons on the outcome of the match!"

Then I thought about what it would be like to be Penelope Clearwater; no offense but I would probably lose my mind if Percy was my boyfriend. Then I thought about what it would be like to go out with Fred or George Weasley; sure, it would be all good fun, but they were both much too old for me and I had so much fun when they were being _un_serious that I didn't want a _serious_ relationship with one of them.

Next I thought about having Harry as a boyfriend. He was much too sought after, just like Cedric Diggory. And he was cute, but _Ginny_ liked him. That just wouldn't be right if I started liking Harry after I _knew_ my best friend did. I needed to start liking someone besides _Malfoy_. He made me so sick to think about-

"Sure you can manage that broom, Potter?" said a cold, drawling voice that surely belonged to Malfoy.

"Yeah, reckon so," Harry said casually.

"Got plenty of special features, hasn't it?" said Malfoy, his icy blue eyes glistening maliciously. "Shame it doesn't come with a parachute- in case you get too near a dementor." Crabbe and Goyle snickered.

I wanted to shout, _'Shut up Malfoy!' _but I kept my mouth shut. If I said anything he would just guess that I liked him and call me a name again. I needed to make him believe I forgot about him.

"Pity you can't attach an extra arm to yours, Malfoy," said Harry. "Then it could catch the Snitch _for _you." We all laughed. Malfoy's pale eyes narrowed and he stalked away.

At a quarter to eleven Ginny and I went down to the Quidditch field. Unlike the day of the match against Hufflepuff it was clear, cool, and breezy. The game was normal, until later there were three dementors under Harry, looking up at him. "_Expecto Patronum_!" we heard him yell. Something silver-white and enormous shot out of his wand and hit the dementors. Harry caught the Snitch. Gryffindor had won the match. All of us went down to the field to congratulate him, being led by Ron. Harry gave both Ginny and me a hug.

"Good for you, Harry!" roared Seamus Finnigan.

"Ruddy brilliant!" boomed Hagrid's voice somewhere above us.

"That was quite some Patronus," Professor Lupin said in Harry's ear.

"The dementors didn't affect me at all!" Harry said proudly. "I didn't feel a thing!"

"That would be because they - er - weren't dementors," said Professor Lupin. "Come and see-" He led Harry out of the field. I didn't want to be a spy, but I wanted to follow them. I wanted to see who the _real_ dementors were. Then I saw the four boys on the ground- they were Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle, and Marcus Flint, the Slytherin team captain. They were all struggling to remove themselves from long, black, hooded robes. I wanted to laugh, but I didn't want to be noticed. Apparently Malfoy had been standing on Goyle's shoulders.

Professor McGonagall was with them, an expression of utter fury on her face. "An unworthy trick!" she shouted. "A low and cowardly attempt to sabotage the Gryffindor Seeker! Detention for all of you, and fifty points from Slytherin! I shall be speaking to Professor Dumbledore about this, make no mistake! Ah, here he comes now!"

Ron came up from behind Harry and doubled up with laughter at the sight of Goyle's head stuck in Malfoy's robes. "Come on, Harry!" said George. He came too. "Party! Gryffindor common room, now!"

"Right," said Harry.

The party went on all day and into the night. Fred and George disappeared for a couple of hours and returned with bottles of butterbeer, pumpkin fizz, and several bags full of Honeydukes sweets. Only one person wasn't celebrating; it was Hermione Granger. She was sitting in a corner, attempting to read an enormous book called _Home Life And Social Habits Of British Muggles_.

"Go to bed!" a voice yelled. It belonged to Professor McGonagall. Since it was one in the morning, she came into the room with a tartan dressing gown and a hair net. We finally went to bed. I was awoken by the sound of screaming.

"Bloody hell!" Veruca Ambry exclaimed. "What was _that_?"

"I'm not sure," Madeleine replied. "Wait- I hear something." She opened the door. In the hall I could see Ron, Harry, Dean Thomas, Seamus Finnigan, and Neville Longbottom all running through the hall. "What're you doing?" she asked them. They didn't respond.

"Where do you think they're going?" asked Ginny.

"I'm not quite sure," Madeleine replied. "Probably to the common room. Let's go down." So Veruca, Madeleine, Florence, Ginny, and I all ran down to the common room. We were still in our dressing gowns.

"Excellent, are we carrying on?" I heard Fred Weasley ask brightly. Apparently he thought everyone came down to continue the party.

"Everyone back upstairs!" yelled Percy, hurrying to the common room and pinning his Head Boy badge to his pajamas as he spoke.

"Perce- Sirius Black!" said Ron faintly. "In our dormitory! With a knife! Woke me up!" The common room became very still. My heart pounded loudly.

"Nonsense!" said Percy, looking very startled. "You had too much to eat, Ron- had a nightmare-"

"I'm telling you-"

"Now, really, enough's enough!"

Professor McGonagall came back into the room. She slammed the portrait hole behind her and stared furiously at all of us. "I am delighted that Gryffindor won the match, but this is getting ridiculous!" she pointed out. "Percy, I expected better of you!"

"I certainly didn't authorize this, Professor!" said Percy, puffing himself up indignantly. "I was just telling them all to get back to bed! My brother Ron here had a nightmare-"

"IT WASN'T A NIGHTMARE!" Ron yelled. "PROFESSOR, I WOKE UP, AND SIRIUS BLACK WAS STANDING OVER ME, HOLDING A KNIFE!"

McGonagall stared at him. "Don't be ridiculous, Weasley, how could he possibly have gotten through the portrait hole?"

"Ask _him_!" said Ron, pointing a shaking finger at the back of Sir Cadogan's picture. "Ask him if he saw-" Glaring suspiciously back at Ron on her way over McGonagall pushed the portrait back open and went outside. We all listened with bated breath.

"Sir Cadogan, did you just let a man enter Gryffindor Tower?" McGonagall's voice asked.

"Certainly, good lady!" Sir Cadogan's voice replied. We all stiffened.

"You- you _did_?" said McGonagall. "But- but the password!"

"He had 'em!" said Sir Cadogan proudly. "Had the whole week's, my lady! Read 'em off a little piece of paper!"

"Oh, no," sighed Neville Longbottom. He had forgotten all of the passwords so he must have made a list, and he must have lost it too.

McGonagall came in back through the portrait hole. Her face was white as chalk. "Which person," she said, her voice shaking, "which abysmally foolish person wrote down this week's passwords and left them lying around?"

"I did, P-Professor," Neville replied trembling, slowly raising his hand, and breaking the stunned silence.

............

Author's Note: Poor Neville, LOL! Oh, no, Sirius Black is still lurking Hogwarts and he keeps trying to get into Gryffindor Tower. Could he possibly be trying to kill Harry Potter once and for all? Is Hogwarts really safe enough to attend anymore? Is Sirius Black going to be caught? Is Sir Cadogan going to be a bit more selective of who he lets in past the portrait hole? Let's find out!


	6. In The Orb

Author's Note: Review- After celebrating Christmas with the Weasleys (and running into an old, arrogant friend) Amy returns to Hogwarts Academy. Several different things are happening to Harry Potter, like for Christmas he received a mysterious broom that needed to be checked for jinxes, and Ron and Hermione are arguing over Ron's rat's disappearance. But the biggest thing that is happening right now is that Sirius Black has made another appearance in the school!

DISCLAIMER: I do not own _Harry Potter _or its characters. They belong to J.K. Rowling.

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6. In The Orb

I didn't sleep that night. No one in Gryffindor Tower did. The castle was being searched again. We all stayed awake in the common room, waiting to hear whether Black had been caught. We waited until dawn, which was when Professor McGonagall finally delivered the news.

"He has escaped," she let us know. The next day there was tighter security; Filch was suddenly bustling up and down the corridors, boarding up everything from tiny cracks in the walls to mouse holes. Sir Cadogan was fired. His portrait was taken back to its lonely landing on the seventh floor. The Fat Lady was back. She was restored, but still extremely nervous, and had agreed to her job only on condition that she was given extra protection. A bunch of grumpy trolls had been hired to protect her. They paced the corridor in groups, grunting and comparing the sizes of their clubs.

Ron had become a celebrity. He was shaken, but he was happy to tell anyone who asked what had happened last night, with much details. Veruca, Florence, Madeleine, Ginny, and I were particularly interested in hearing about what had exactly happened, so we asked.

"What happened, Ron?" I asked. "I just wanted to know since I came across Sirius Black too-"

"Well I was asleep," Ron began, "and I heard this ripping noise, and I thought it was in my dream, you know? But then there was this draft…I woke up on one side of the hangings on my bed had been pulled down…I rolled over…and I saw him standing over me…like a skeleton with loads of filthy hair…holding this great long knife, must've been twelve inches…and he looked at me, and I looked at him, and he _scampered_."

"That's odd," I pointed out, "how he'd run. He didn't mind killing innocent people twelve years ago. Why would he be so threatened by five unarmed boys, especially when four of them were asleep?"

"I'm not sure," said Ron, looking up at Harry out of the corner of his eye. The bell rang. The other girls and I were surely going to be late, so we departed.

Professor McGonagall, who was especially upset with Neville, forced him to wait outside the common room every night for somebody to let him in, while the security trolls leered unpleasantly at him.

The school owls swooped into the Great Hall days later carrying the mail as usual, and Neville choked as a huge barn owl landed in front of him. There was a scarlet envelope clutched in its beak. I recognized the letter as a Howler, similar to the one Ron received from Mrs. Weasley last year when he and Harry flew to Hogwarts in a Muggle car.

"Run for it, Neville," Ron advised. Neville seized the envelope and holding it before him like a bomb, sprinted out of the hall, while the Slytherin table exploded with laughter at him. We could still hear Neville's grandmother shrieking at him about how he brought shame on his whole family. I felt sorry for him. Then Silvermist delivered me a letter- one from Hagrid.

Dear Amy and Ginny,

How about having tea with me this afternoon 'round five?

I'll come and collect you from the castle.

WAIT FOR ME IN THE ENTRANCE HALL;

YOU'RE NOT ALLOWED OUT ON YOUR OWN.

Cheers,

Hagrid

"Ginny," I said, tapping on her shoulder. "Look at this."

She read the letter. "What do you suppose he wants to talk about?" she asked.

"Probably about Buckbeak," I replied.

"Right," she said, nodding.

Later that day at around five Ginny and I were in the entrance hall. It was just ten minutes before Hagrid emerged from the doors. "'Ello, Amy," said Hagrid, his booming voice much quieter now than usual. "Ginny. Are yeh comin' or what?"

"Of course we are," Ginny replied. We followed him to his little hut.

"Did you hear about last week?" I asked Hagrid. "About Ron and-"

"Yeah, I did," Hagrid replied. "Abou' Ron an' Sirius Black. Yeah, I heard _all_ abou' it. Ron seemed surprised when I told him this." The first thing we saw when we were entering Hagrid's cabin was exactly what I had seen in the _Daily Prophet _during Christmas break- a griffin creature, and it was being stretched out on top of Hagrid's patchwork quilt, enjoying a large plate of dead ferrets. This was rather unpleasant, so I looked away.

"Buckbeak," I said.

"Yup," Hagrid said, nodding.

"What are _those_ for, Hagrid?" asked Ginny, pointing to a gigantic, hairy brown suit and a dreadful yellow-and-orange tie hanging from inside Hagrid's wardrobe.

"Buckbeak's case against the Committee fer the Disposal o' Dangerous Creatures," he replied. "This Friday- tonight. Him an' me'll be goin' down ter London together. "I've booked two beds on the Knight Bus."

"I'm really sorry, Hagrid," I said.

"Abou' what?" Hagrid wanted to know.

"About Buckbeak," I replied. "About how Draco Malfoy frightened him. About how he exaggerated how badly his arm broke. About how his dad wants to execute Buckbeak-"

"It's alrigh'," said Hagrid, sniffling. "There's still a chance we might win. I'll tell yeh all abou' it when the case's done, how does 'at soun'?"

"That sounds good," said Ginny. For the rest of the tea party Hagrid talked to us about our year and about Professor Remus Lupin (which made me remember how eager I was to ask Lupin about werewolves) and about how Gryffindor might win the House Cup again. It was a few minutes before six o'clock before we left.

Later that evening in the common room a large group of people was bunched around the bulletin board. Ron and Harry were talking about possibly sneaking Harry into Hogsmeade over the weekend but Hermione objected. Ron yelled at her. Crookshanks hissed at Harry. She took her cat back to the girls' dormitories.

The next day after everyone left for Hogsmeade I learned that Harry had tried to scare Malfoy and his friends at Hogsmeade (even when he was wearing the Invisibility Cloak, but it came off and his face was revealed), so he got in trouble with Professor Snape. Hermione ran up to Ginny and me. She was holding a letter in her hand. "There's one for you two," she began, "and one for me. I didn't read it yet- it's from Hagrid-"

"What does it say, Hermione?" asked Ginny.

"Did you not just hear me say I didn't read it yet?" she repeated. With that she marched off, huffing.

"Open it," I told Ginny, advising her to open the envelope. So that's what she did. "What does it say?"

"_Dear Amy and Ginny_," she began, "_we lost. I'm allowed to bring him back to Hogwarts. Execution date to be fixed. Beaky has enjoyed London. I won't forget all the help you gave us. Hagrid_."

"Oh my!" I cried. "Malfoy-"

"We had no control, Amy," said Ginny. "It may be sad-"

"_It may be _sad?!" I repeated, appalled. "Just _sad_? It's _unfair_, Ginny! I have no idea why the Malfoys are so powerful! They should know that since Lucius was foolish enough to lose his job he shouldn't be trusted-"

"He may have lost his job, Amy, but he hasn't lost his connections," Ginny reminded me. The sound of that made me sick. It made me remember that Lucius still had his connections with my father, who was just so optimistic…

"I don't know about you, Gin, but I'm going down to see Hagrid!" I cried.

"You'll get caught," she replied. "No one's supposed to go out of the castle after hours…" I marched off when she was telling me this. I was going down to Hagrid's and I didn't care. Nobody bothered me when I went, so I was able to enter the hut with no problem. Even thought it _was_ the evening.

"S'all my fault," Hagrid told me, loudly blowing his nose into a large tissue. "Was all tongue-tied when I went. They was all sittin' there in black robes, an' I kep' droppin' me notes and forgettin' all them dates! An' then Lucius Malfoy-" (I shuddered when he said his name) "-stood up an' said his bit, and the Committee jus' did exac'ly what he told 'em…"

"That is _wrong_!" I cried. "Why does _he_ have so much power?"

"That Committee's in Lucius Malfoy's pocket," Hagrid replied. "I'm jus' gonna make sure that the rest o' Beaky's time is the happiest he's ever had. I owe him that…" We were silent for about two minutes time. "Yeh should git back ter the castle, Amy. Yeh don' wanna be out af'er hours, especially with them dementers flyin' 'round. It's dangerous."

And I was out. I was heading back to the castle. Just then I saw three more troublemakers who were out late that night- they were Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle, and they were all hiding behind a tree, laughing derisively. I didn't even try speaking to them. I didn't want Malfoy to still think I cared about him, because I didn't. Did I?

The Easter holidays were not relaxing; we had so much homework. The third years seemed to be worse off though- Neville Longbottom almost had a nervous breakdown. "Call this a holiday!" Seamus Finnigan roared in the common room. "The exams are ages away, what're they playing at?" Ron didn't seem to care about Crookshanks anymore; he was more absorbed in Buckbeak's case. Hermione had quit Divination altogether (lucky), but she still had more subjects than anyone else and she was always up early and late, which formed shadows under her eyes, like Lupin's. She was constantly close to tears. Who wouldn't be?

The Gryffindor-Slytherin match would take place on the first Saturday after the Easter holidays. Malfoy was still embarrassed about Harry sneaking into Hogsmeade and throwing mud at him.

"I want to beat Malfoy up in front of the entire school," Harry assured Ginny and me, "for Buckbeak's execution." I didn't blame him. People were starting to take the match very seriously; a number of small scuffles broke out in the corridors, culminating in a nasty incident in which a Gryffindor fourth year and a Slytherin sixth year ended up at Madam Pomfrey's with leeks coming out of their ears. Harry couldn't walk to class without Slytherins trying to trip him; Crabbe and Goyle kept popping up wherever he went, and looking disappointed whenever they realized he was with other people. Wood wanted Harry to be accompanied wherever he went just in case the Slytherins tried to hurt him before the match.

Gryffindors took the challenge enthusiastically; people always surrounded Harry when he tried to get to his classes. He was more concerned for his Firebolt than for himself though; he had to hide it from everyone so they wouldn't break it.

In the common room before the night of the match Fred and George were louder and more exuberant than ever. Oliver Wood was growing more and more obsessed over winning the match. The girls from the Quidditch team were laughing at Fred and George's jokes. Harry was still nervous about the match.

In the Great Hall that morning we all applauded when the Gryffindor team marched in with their uniforms on. The Ravenclaw and Hufflepuffs applauded too. The Slytherin table was the only one that hissed angrily. Malfoy went pale. Pa_ler_. We continued to clap before they left. Ginny glared. "What?" I said.

"Look," she said, pointing over at Harry. He was blushing at a pretty Chinese girl. "Look at his face."

"I see," I replied. I glared too. Ginny wanted Harry probably more than this girl did. "Who is she?"

"_Cho Chang_," Ginny replied, her face turning green.

When we were on the bleachers for the Gryffindor game Ron and Hermione were waving scarlet flags with the Gryffindor lion on them. Ginny and I were holding banners with the message "GO HARRY POTTER!" Across the field we could see the Slytherins- at least two hundred of them wearing green. The silver serpent of Slytherin glittered maliciously on their flags. Snape was in the very front row, wearing green (for the first time).

Lee Jordan, the one who announced the two teams, kept being booed at because of his favoritism toward the Gryffindor team. It made me laugh when I looked at the Slytherin team (which looked like ants from up here) because Draco Malfoy was easily the smallest member. The game started. I was cheering the whole time but was suddenly awaken like everyone else when Marcus Flint (purposely) knocked into Angelina Johnson. "Sorry!" he shouted. "Sorry, didn't see her!"

Fred Weasley, who seemed to like Angelina greatly, chucked his Beater's club at the back of Flint's head. Flint's nose smashed into the handle of his broom and began to bleed. Madam Hooch called penalty for Slytherin _and_ Gryffindor.

It looked like an extremely tough game; Slytherins kept throwing their Bludgers at Harry and Madam Hooch kept awarding both teams penalties when Fred of George Weasley fought back. When Harry finally saw the Snitch Malfoy grabbed the tail of the Firebolt. Harry tried to hit Malfoy and got blamed, so Lee Jordan yelled at Malfoy through his megaphone. McGonagall tried to shush him. Soon though she started shouting things at Malfoy also.

Soon enough Harry had knocked Malfoy's arm out of the way and caught the snitch. We started running to the field. "Good job, Harry!" cried Ginny, hugging Harry. He hugged her back. He put his arm around me just before Seamus Finnigan and Dean Thomas pulled him away. Then Hagrid came with crimson rosettes.

"Yeh beat 'em, Harry, yeh beat 'em!" Hagrid cried cheerfully. "Wait till I tell Buckbeak!" Percy was jumping up and down like an idiot as if he had forgotten all of his dignity. McGonagall was sobbing harder than Wood, wiping her eyes with her enormous Gryffindor flag. Ron, Hermione, and Carly fought their way to Harry. Dumbledore stood with the enormous Quidditch Cup. Wood passed it to Harry.

As June approached the days started to become cloudless and sultry. All anybody felt like doing was flopping down on the grass with several pints of iced pumpkin juice. Sometimes they'd wish to play a casual game of Gobstones or watch the giant squid propel itself dreamily across the surface of the lake. But we couldn't; exams were coming soon. We couldn't laze around the castle; we were trying to concentrate, even though it was summer. Glorious, brilliant summer.

Fred and George Weasley had been spotted working (for once). They were about to take their O.W.L.s (Ordinary Wizarding Levels), and Percy was going to take his N.E.W.T.s (Nastily Exhausting Wizarding Tests) so he could enter the Ministry of Magic, which required top grades. He was very edgy and anxious now, giving severe punishments to anyone to anybody who disturbed the quiet of the common room in the evenings. Hermione was worse about it though.

At breakfast Silvermist came in with a letter. It was from Hagrid. It mentioned that Buckbeak's appeal was set for the sixth. "That's the day we finish our exams," Ginny pointed out.

"And they're going _here_ to do it also," I added. "Someone from the Ministry of Magic. And the executioner."

"If they're bringing the executioner to the appeal," Ginny began, "that means they've practically already decided."

"That's true," I agreed. That was because Lucius Malfoy was so powerful to the Committee for the Disposal of Dangerous Creatures. Draco, who had been noticeably subdued after losing the Quidditch match, seemed to regain his old swagger for the next few days.

"It's official," Malfoy said to his friends at lunch, "Buckbeak is going to be killed." His friends at the Slytherin table clapped and cheered. I wanted to vomit.

When exam week began each of the second years emerged from their classes, stunned. Each test was extremely hard. Hermione, who was a third year, was complaining about how in her Transfiguration exam, her tortoise looked more like a turtle, which was clearly the least of anyone's problems. In Transfiguration (we) second years had to turn our quills into tiny birds, like the third years had to turn their teapots into tortoises.

Ginny was partnered with me for the Charms exams. We were being tested on Cheering Charms, Grade 2. Just before Ginny was going to humiliate herself in front of the whole entire class, I saved her. After dinner we hurried back to our common rooms to study for our next classes.

The next day in Muggle Studies with Professor Burbage, I passed; I think I messed up badly in Potions, and I couldn't take care of my flobberworms in Care of Magical Creatures much. On our second to last exam on Thursday morning, Lupin had a sort of obstacle course outside in the sun, where we had to wade across a deep paddling pool containing a grind low, cross a series of potholes full of Red Caps, squish our way across a patch of marsh while ignoring misleading directions from a hinkypunk, then climb an old trunk and battle with a new boggart.

"Excellent, Amy," said Lupin as I climbed out of the trunk, grinning. On my way to the castle I was startled; I saw a portly figure in a pinstriped suit: it was surely Cornelius Fudge.

"He-hey, Mr. F-fudge!" I exclaimed. "What brings you here?" I very well knew why he was there though. Because of Buckbeak's execution.

"Hello there, Amy!" he said, smiling broadly. "I expect you're having your exams! Nearly finished yet?"

"Yes, sir," I replied.

"Well, lovely day, young lady," he said. Then he stared over at Hagrid's cabin. "Such a pity, Amy. Unpleasant mission; the Committee for the Disposal of Dangerous Creatures required a witness for the execution of a mad hippogriff. I was needed to visit Hogwarts anyway to check on the Black situation, so I was asked to step in for this also."

"The appeal hasn't already happened, has it, Minister?"

"No, it's scheduled for this afternoon."

I leaned in and lowered my voice. Usually I wasn't so talkative with Cornelius Fudge, but I felt brave right now. "If I were you, Minister, I would put a stop to it," I demanded. "Why does Lucius Malfoy think he has so much power over Hagrid? Even last year…the Chamber of Secrets situation…"

"We need not discuss these things, Amy!" Cornelius Fudge rebuked quickly, looking around nervously. "You should run off to your next class- wouldn't want to be late, would you, now?" It wasn't until then I realized there was another man standing a few feet behind Fudge- it was a black-mustached man with a shining axe in his belt. I did as Fudge told me to and ran to my next class.

My last exam was Divination. We had to each be seen separately and read things in a crystal ball. "Amy Sellick," said Professor Trelawney's misty voice. I climbed into the classroom. The tower room was hotter than ever; the curtains were closed, the fire was alight, and the usual sickly scent made me cough. Trelawney was waiting for me before a large crystal ball. "Good day, my dear," she said. "Now I ask you kindly to gaze in the Orb…take your time, though…tell me what you see within…" I bent over the crystal ball and stared. As hard as I stared though I couldn't see anything other than swirling white fog. "What do you see?"

The heat was overpowering the room. My nostrils were burning with the perfumed smoke wafting from the fire beside me. But then I finally got a picture. "A hippogriff," I said.

"Indeed!" she whispered. "You haven't been the first today to see the outcome of poor Hagrid's trouble with the Ministry! Let's see if you see the same thing as the others! Does the hippogriff appear…to have its head?"

"Yes," I said firmly.

"Are you sure?" she asked me. "Are you quite sure, dear? You don't see it squirming? You don't see a shadowy figure lifting an axe behind it?"

"No," I said, my blood boiling.

"No blood? No weeping Hagrid?"

"No! It's looks fine! It's flying away-"

"I'm a little bit disappointed, Miss Amy, I know you did your best but-"

"Wait," I said. "I see something else now." I did.

"What's that?" she asked.

"It looks like…a _rat_," I said, making a face. Then I immediately thought of Scabbers, and expected to see a cat (that resembled Crookshanks) next to him. And then I wondered what would be so important about Scabbers, so I decided it was another rat. "He's…he's…"

"What is the rat doing, my dear?" asked Trelawney.

"It's scampering." Easy. It was running from Crookshanks. He was still alive.

"What is he doing now?"

"Oh!" I said. The rat was _not_ running from a cat. Instead, it was running from a _dog _- a big black dog. "It's running from a dog."

"Is it…the Grim…?"

"Oh, _no_, Professor," I replied. "It's just a simple dog. Wait. I see-"

"What? _What_?!"

"A full moon," I replied. "The dog…it's battling another sort of dog…but it appears to be half dog half man…"

"I'm sorry, dear, but I've no idea what these images mean," Trelawney admitted, seeming a bit frightened. "We'll leave it here, if that's alright."

In the Gryffindor common room later all I could think of was the images that appeared in the orb earlier. I was just trying to understand them. Ginny ran up to me. "Amy," she said. "It's another letter from Hagrid."

"He must have won, Ginny!" I exclaimed merrily. "I saw it in the orb- Buckbeak was flying away! What did _you_ see, Ginny?"

"Um…" she replied, "…I didn't see much. All I saw was a rat. I had no idea what _that _was about, especially since Scabbers is dead-"

"I saw a rat, too."

"But Buckbeak _didn't_ win, Amy," Ginny pointed out. "Read the letter." She handed it to me.

Lost appeal. They're going to execute at sunset.

Nothing you can do. Don't come down. I don't want you to see it.

Hagrid

"We have to go!" I cried. "We can't just leave him alone, waiting for the executioner to come and-"

"We _can't_," Ginny argued. "With the dementors about, we can't afford to get caught when-"

"Fine," I said. "I went once without you. I can go without you again." So I marched out through the portrait hole and outside. I sneaked past people- hiding behind trees and small buildings on my way to Hagrid's. "Hagrid!" I called through the door. I knocked. Hagrid answered.

"Yeh shouldn've come!" Hagrid whispered. He stood back and let me in. He shut the door quickly behind me though. He was not crying. He instead looked braver and responsible, like he knew what he had to do. It was worse than crying.

"I came anyway," I replied.

"Wan' some tea?" he asked, his great hands shaking over the kettle.

"Where's Buckbeak?" I asked.

"I- I took him outside," he replied, spilling milk all over the table as he filled up the jug. "He's tethered in me pumpkin patch. Thought he oughta see the trees an' - an' smell fresh air - before-" The milk jug almost slipped from his grasp since his hands were trembling.

"You should try to stop-"

"I can't. I got no power over the Committee; they're scared o' Buckbeak. An' the executioner Macnair, he's an old pal o' Lucius Malfoy's. I'll be beside Buckbeak-"

"It makes me sick," I said, "how he thinks he has so much power over you-"

"Amy, yeh should git back ter the castle," said Hagrid.

I surrender-sighed. "Goodnight," I said. Then I left. As I was sneaking back to the castle I kept hearing rustling sounds, as if someone was wearing an Invisibility Cloak. I shook my head. The idea of it was ridiculous. Then I heard shuffling behind a bush. An ill-looking rat came out from behind it. It _was _Scabbers. "Hey, Scabbers," I said quietly, bending down to his level. "What's up?" The ugly thing squeaked up at me, but then froze. I looked up and heard the growl of a great big black dog.

"Rawr…_Woof_! _Woof_!" It jumped at me- I couldn't tell if it was aiming for me or Scabbers.

"Aagggh!" I screamed. I ran (without looking back) to the castle. After a few minutes I realized the dog was _not_ chasing me. I ran back to the Gryffindor common room, and then to the dormitory. I fell asleep. I was awaken in the middle of the night though by what sounded like a bird screeching, but I shook my head. I couldn't have heard…

For the next few days none of us knew what happened with Buckbeak, so everyone had different theories. Malfoy was furious; he was convinced that Hagrid had a way of smuggling the hippogriff to safety. He thought he and his father had been outwitted by a gamekeeper. Percy, meanwhile, had a lot to say about the subject of the situation.

"If I manage to get into the Ministry, I'll have a lot of proposals to make about Magical Law Enforcement!" he told the only person who'd listen- his girlfriend Penelope.

The weather was perfect and the atmospheres was so cheerful. Everyone was so upset about the resignation of Professor Remus Lupin though. "Wonder what they'll give us next year?" said Seamus Finnigan gloomily.

"Maybe a vampire," Dean Thomas suggested.

The exam results. I had passed every subject- yes, even Potions. When we were leaving for the Hogwarts Express Ginny, Fred, George, and I sat in our own compartment- not even with Ron, Harry, Carly or Hermione. "Bye, guys," I said to Fred, George, and Ginny before I left. They all hugged me. I promised I'd come over again during the summer just before I ran up to my parents. Sadly, they were talking to Lucius Malfoy.

"Let's just say my boy Draco didn't have - er - the _best_ year we could have hoped for," I heard Lucius say. He was holding up his 'magnificent' Slytherin-colored staff in the air. I didn't know why he needed it- he wasn't impaired, so he probably just used it to show off.

"I am very sorry, Lucius," said Dad.

"That's because Buckbeak wasn't executed!" I cried. I felt brave at the moment. Lucius looked nervous.

"Amy-" Mum began.

"It's _true_,though!" I pointed out. "_That's_ why Draco didn't have the best year you could have hoped for!"

"That's because Hagrid is a criminal!" Draco's voice snapped. "He's a hippogriff smuggler and you know it! You just have biased feelings for the monster-"

"Draco, Draco, not in front of Mr. and Mrs. Sellick," said Lucius, holding his staff out in front of Draco. "We must be polite-"

"Amy deserves to know the truth though, Father!" Draco complained. "She just has biased feelings for that hippogriff, even though she probably doesn't know him! She probably just dislikes you, Father! You see the way she looks at you!"

"I see nothing of the sort, Draco," said Lucius, chuckling uneasily. "Well good day, Filbert." He pat my dad on the back. Then he said quietly, "Good day to you too, Charlotte." Then he winked at Mum. She looked uncomfortable. "And good day to _you_, Amy," added Lucius. He bent down to my level to make eye contact with me. "See you three again…hopefully sometime this summer…"

"Perfect!" exclaimed Dad. "I'll make the arrangements!" I groaned when he said this. Lucius nodded at him and walked away, Draco behind him. When we got home Dad said, "Amy, we have a visitor." I was just hoping it wouldn't be the Malfoys (even though we had just spoken to them, but Dad was always welcoming them so), but I found them. It was someone I quite liked- Remus Lupin.

"Remus!" I exclaimed, calling him by his first name. "This is a pleasant surprise, but what brings you here?"

"I thought you deserved to know the truth," Remus replied. "About Sirius Black. About Peter Pettigrew. About _me_." He instantly paled.

"Why, sir?" I asked, excited.

"It was supposed to be a secret," Remus continued, "between Professor Dumbledore, Ron Weasley, Harry Potter, Carly Perry, Hermione Granger, and me. But since I believe you're a part of it, I'll tell you. First and foremost- I really _am_ a werewolf. You were very clever to discover this, and I was wrong to hide the truth from you."

He told me he was a very small boy when he received the bite from a mad werewolf called Fenrir Greyback. His mum and dad tried everything, but in those days there was no cure. The potion that Professor Snape has been making him was a very recent discovery. It makes him safe; as long as he takes it in the week preceding the full moon, he doesn't lose his mind when he transforms…he'd be able to curl up in his office, a harmless wolf, and wait for the moon to wane again.

Before the Wolfsbane Potion was discovered, however, he became a fully fledged monster once every month. It seemed impossible for him to ever attend Hogwarts, and other parents would surely not want their children exposed to him.

Dumbledore became Headmaster, and he was sympathetic. He said that as long as they took certain precautions, there was no reason Remus shouldn't come to school. The school planted the Whomping Willow the year he came to Hogwarts. A tunnel inside the Whomping Willow led to the Shrieking Shack in Hogsmeade. It was made for his use. He would be smuggled out of the castle once a month into this place, to transform. The tree was placed at the tunnel mouth to stop anyone from coming across him when he was dangerous.

His transformations back then were terrible- he would bite and scratch himself instead of others this way. The villagers from Hogsmeade would hear the screams from the Shrieking Shack and think they were from violent spirits. Dumbledore encouraged the rumor. The house has been silent for years, and nobody dares to approach it.

Apart from his transformations, Remus had three great friends- Sirius Black, Peter Pettigrew, and Harry's father James Potter. They noticed how he disappeared once a month. He gave them stories, but just like Hermione Granger, they worked out the truth. They didn't desert him. They became Animagi. They each turned into a different animal. They turned into animals since a werewolf is only a danger to humans. Peter turned into a rat, Sirius turned into a big black dog, and James turned into a stag. They sneaked out of the castle every month to visit him during his transformations. Remus' mind became less wolfish when he was with them.

Sirius was called Padfoot, Peter was called Wormtail, and James was called Prongs. Remus was called Moony. Sometimes Remus had felt bad about betraying Dumbledore and having his friends out and about with him. All this year he was wondering if he should have told Dumbledore Sirius was an Animagus, but he was too cowardly to do so. Dumbledore let him into Hogwarts as a boy, even when he was shunned in adult life because of what he was. Then he mentioned Snape…

Snape went to school with them and was very interested in where they went every month. He was enemies with them. He had probably been jealous of James on the Quidditch field. Sirius thought it would be funny to tell Snape all he had to do was prod the knot on the tree trunk with a long stick, and then he was able to get in after Remus and his friends. James held Sirius back, but Snape glimpsed James at the end of the tunnel. He was forbidden by Dumbledore to tell anybody.

Everyone had been wrong about Sirius Black; he was _not_ the one who betrayed James and Lily Potter and killed a dozen Muggles- _instead_ that was Peter Pettigrew, who Sirius _intended_ to kill after his crimes, but the criminal transformed itself into a rat and only had his finger cut off. The reason Sirius Black had been trying to get into Gryffindor Tower and the reason he had been holding a knife over Ron was because Scabbers was really Peter Pettigrew in disguise, and he has been trying to kill him. So Sirius, who was really the big black dog I had seen the other night, brought Ron into the Whomping Willow with him since he was carrying Scabbers. Hermione, Harry, and Carly went in after him.

Remus went in after them too. He was shocked because he thought Sirius killed Peter also, but when he learned the truth he became friends with Sirius again. Snape came in too, and tried to kill Sirius, but Harry knocked him out. Sirius and Remus fought to make Scabbers turn back into his human form, and it worked. Just before they were able to kill him, Harry suggested Peter should have a fair trial. When they were going out of the Shrieking Shack and the Whomping Willow the full moon appeared, and Peter Pettigrew was able to turn himself back into a rat and escape to his master, Lord Voldemort.

Remus turned into a werewolf after that, so he didn't remember much during and after his transformation, but he did know one thing: Hermione and Harry used a Time-Turner to go back in time, free Buckbeak before he could be executed, and help Sirius escape Hogwarts before he could be given the Dementor's Kiss (of death). The three of them flew on Buckbeak when they escaped.

Now Buckbeak and Sirius were in hiding- apparently now it was in the Leaky Cauldron. Buckbeak, who was being enchanted to look like a simple horse, was being hidden in a stable, while Sirius was at the Leaky Cauldron, after having used Polyjuice Potion to make himself look like Remus Lupin himself. But they were taking off shortly after, so they were only going to be there briefly.

"We have to go!" I exclaimed.

"Amy," said Remus, raising his hand in the air. "_Why_ do we have to go? You wouldn't want to be caught, would you?"

"As long as they are still wearing the disguises, Remus, we're _safe_," I pointed out. "No one will expect we're friends with 'outlaws'."

Remus surrender-sighed. "I guess you're right," he said. "We'd have to go on the Knight Bus though."

"The Knight Bus?" I repeated.

"I'll show you when we get there," he assured me. He gestured for me to follow him out the doors of Sellick Manor. Dad stopped us on the way out.

"Why the haste?" he wondered.

"Oh, nothing," Remus replied. "We're just going to the Leaky Cauldron. We need to visit somebody."

"Alright," said Dad, a hint of suspicion in his voice. We left now.

............

Author's Note: As long as Buckbeak and Sirius Black are in disguise at the moment, Remus and Amy are able to just visit them for about a few minutes. At least Amy knows a bit more about Peter Pettigrew now, but is also a bit alarmed to learn that it was Ron's ill pet Scabbers the whole entire time. It is a bit unfair how Sirius took the blame for Peter's crimes, but people thought since Peter turned into a rat he had disappeared.


	7. The Fugitives

Author's Note: Review- Between mass murderer Sirius Black lurking the school and the appeal of Buckbeak the hippogriff, Amy and the other students at Hogwarts had a lot on their hands. Some good things happen though, like Harry winning the Quidditch Cup for the Gryffindors and Amy passing all her exams. When Amy learns the truth about Remus being a werewolf and Sirius being innocent, she asks Remus to take her to Sirius after her year at Hogwarts ends.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own _Harry Potter _or its characters. They belong to J.K. Rowling.

............

7. The Fugitives

It was night time, so it was dark outside. "_Lumos_," said Remus. A dazzling light appeared at the end of his wand.

"_Lumos_," I said too. My wand lit up too. "So when is this _Knight Bus_-"

"Wait for it…" said Remus, holding his hand out in front of me. BANG! Blinding lights flashed in my eyes, so I had to shield them with the back of my hand. All of a sudden a gigantic pair of wheels and headlights screeched to a halt. They belonged to a triple-decker, shockingly purple bus. There was gold lettering over the windshield spelled _The Knight Bus_.

A conductor in a purple uniform leapt out of the bus. From the help of Remus' wand and my wand I could make out the way the man looked: he was young- maybe eighteen or nineteen at most- with large, protruding ears and pimples. He didn't look very good. "Welcome to the Knight Bus, emergency transport for the stranded, hurried, or needy witch or wizard. Just stick out your wand hand, step on board, and we can take you anywhere you want to go. My name is Stan Shunpike, and I will be your conductor this eve-" He looked at me and stopped talking.

"Yeah, yeah, we need to get somewhere, _quick_, so may we board?" said Remus, frowning at Stan. He seemed unimpressed with him.

"'Choo in a hurry for?" asked Stan, still looking at me with wide eyes.

"We need to get to the Leaky Cauldron," Remus replied. He stepped in front of me, as if to let me know he didn't want _me_ to answer. "We need to visit a friend there- er- my dear twin brother. Make it snappy." I had never seen or heard Remus so tense before. He seemed highly unhappy with the conductor for some reason.

"Well, c'mon then!" said Stan. "Let's not wait 'ere for the grass to grow! Woss your names? Are ya father and daughter?"

"No, he's a _friend_," I replied. Remus slapped himself in the face.

"Really, now?" said Stan, a large grin spreading across his bony face. "Woss your names, sweet-"

"Remus Lupin and Veruca Ambry," Remus Lupin said quickly. I was confused at first, why he picked Veruca's name instead of mine, but then I realized he was doing just as I did last year when I had detention with Filch. That time I did that though because _I_ didn't want to get in trouble, but Remus was changing my name since he felt I'd feel uncomfortable around Stan (especially with the way he was looking at me) so he was trying to keep my identity private.

"Well, this bus _does_ go anywhere, Misser Lupin an' Miss Ambry so we _can_ take ya to the Leaky Cauldron. You flagged us down, dincha? So we'll take you where you wanna go!"

"How much?" said Remus.

"Eleven Sickles," said Stan, "but for firteen you get 'ot chocolate, and for fifteen you get an 'ot water bottle an' a toofbrush in the color of your choice."

"Just eleven, then," said Remus, reaching into his shabby robes and pulling out eleven Sickles. Stan let us onto the bus. There were no seats; instead, there were half a dozen brass bedsteads beside each bed, illuminating the wood-paneled walls. There were very different looking wizards and witches snoozing in some of the beds.

"You, this one," Stan said to Remus, patting one of the bedsteads, "and _you_-" he said drawling, looking at me, "_you_ 'ave _this_ one." The bedstead looked a bit better than the others, and it even had a mattress and covering. "Make yourself comfy."

"Thanks," I said, frowning. This bloke was beginning to creep me out, especially since he was too old for me.

An elderly wizard wearing very thick glasses nodded at Remus and me. He was at the wheel; he was the driver. "Take 'er away, Ern!" said Stan, sitting in the armchair next to the old man's.

"Yeah, take it away, Ernie!" agreed another voice. It had a Jamaican accent. I looked around for the voice, wondering where it could have come from, and then I saw it, the most horrible sight- a shrunken head with brown skin and dreadlocks coming from it! My heart jumped into my throat in shock. The head was hanging from the mirror in front of the driver.

"Do Muggles hear this bus?" I asked Remus.

"No, Amy, they-" Remus began, but Stan interrupted.

"Them!" said Stan contemptuously. "Them, Missy- they don' listen properly. Don' look properly either. Never notice nuffink, they don'."

"If his personality wasn't enough," Remus whispered to me, "his way of speaking just makes him even that much _more_ unpleasant." I giggled. BANG! The bus came to another halt.

"'Ere you go, Sir Sheen," said Stan. All of a sudden a wizard in wealthy, brightly colored outfits started down the steps and out of the bus. Stan threw his bags out after him and then rammed the bus doors shut. The bus took off at the tremendous speed again, trees and houses looking like flashes of light.

"When we talk to Sirius Black-" I whispered to Remus before he shushed me.

"Sirius Black?" Stan repeated. "Scary fing, inee, Ernie?" he asked the driver.

"We never mentioned Sirius Black," Remus lied.

"Black woz a big supporter or _You-Know-'Oo_," said Stan, ignoring Remus, looking at me the whole entire time. I looked down at my lap uneasily. "Wouldn't want to be found alone an' outta your house at night wif _that _one walking around, especially if you're a young girl such as yourself. I heard he's not efen been caught yet."

"Sirius can't be _that_ bad," I argued. Remus put his hand on my arm.

"Yeah, but he _is_," Stan pointed out, rubbing his chest.

"He is, he is!" cackled the shrunken head. I wanted it to shut up. It was so freaky looking it made me jump whenever I looked at it.

"He does _not_ work for Voldemort!" I shouted. Remus shook his head.

Stan went white. Ernie almost steered the bus into a large building. The shrunken head stopped cackling. "Where d'you wanna go again, Miss Ambry?" asked Stan, recovering after a few minutes.

"Diagon Alley," I replied. _Duh_.

"Righto," said Stan. "'Old tight then…" BANG! We were thundering along Charing Cross Road. I sat up and watched buildings and benches squeezing themselves out of the bus's way. Ernie slammed on the brakes and the Knight Bus skidded to a halt in front of the small and shabby-looking pub. Behind the pub lay a magical entrance to Diagon Alley, so it was extremely important.

"Thanks," Remus said to Ernie. "Goodbye, Stan," he said. Stan ignored him though. He was just staring at the shadowy entrance to the Leaky Cauldron.

"'Ood night, Miss Ambry," Stan said to me out of nowhere.

"Um…bye," I replied, quietly.

"Yeah, take it away!" I heard the shrunken head shout just before the Knight Bus zoomed away.

Remus and I were walking toward the Leaky Cauldron. Just then we saw a stooping, wizened, toothless wizard coming out, holding a lantern. The sight of him startled me at first.

"Why, hello, Tom," said Remus. "Amy, this is the landlord, Tom."

"Hello, Remus!" Tom replied. "Would you want anything; beer, brandy…"

"Not tonight, Tom, thank you," Remus replied. "I came here to er- visit my long lost twin brother…Seamus…" I wanted to chuckle. He must have picked the first name that came to mind, and since it rhymed with Remus-

"Come in, come in, by all means," Tom replied, letting us walk in. He closed the door behind us. "Is this Amy Sellick?" he asked, startling me again.

"How did you know?" Remus asked.

"Cornelius Fudge," Tom replied. I hated how much Cornelius Fudge flaunted me to the wizarding world.

The first thing I could see sitting at a long table in the pub was a man who looked just like Remus Lupin, but I knew at once it was really Sirius Black in disguise. "Sirius," Remus said quietly as he sat next to him.

"Remus," Sirius replied. The two Remuses patted each other affectionately on the backs. "Why did you- how did you-"

"Amy Sellick," Remus replied, nodding at me.

"It's _her_," said Sirius, looking down.

"Who, Sirius?" said Remus. "Who's _her_?"

"The one who I met the night I slashed the Fat Lady's portrait," Sirius replied. "She thinks I'm a monster. I can't meet her-"

"It's alright, Sirius," said Remus. "I told her all about the misunderstandment. How it had really been Peter Pettigrew who had killed all of those Muggles. How _he_ was working for Lord Voldemort and trying to kill Harry."

"Amy, right?" said Sirius. He stood up and started walking toward me. I kept forgetting it was him though because he looked and sounded so much like Remus. "It's all right, I hope. I didn't mean to frighten you- it was that rat- the whole time it was that inferior rat-"

"It's alright," I assured him. "I understand now. And I think it's unfair how everyone is blaming you-"

"And the Ronald Weasley boy," Sirius continued, "I wasn't trying to hurt _him_. Again, it was Peter Pettigrew. _Damned_ Peter Pettigrew!"

"Shh, Sirius," whispered Remus. "You might want to lower your voice out in public. You're still on the run, remember?"

"I _do_, Remus," Sirius replied. Then he lowered his voice, "Thing is, my Polyjuice Potion is going to wear off soon, and I haven't any left. I need to take off, you two."

"Can't we see the hippogriff?" I whispered. "He's enchanted, right? Nobody will suspect anything."

"They won't," Sirius agreed, "but he and I need to take off very soon before anyone _does_. Come down to the stable with me. Take a visit." On our way out of the pub Tom noticed we were leaving.

"Goodbye, Mr. Lupin, Miss Sellick, and _Seamus_!" he cried.

"Goodbye, Tom," Remus replied- or was it Sirius? I couldn't tell anymore.

On the way to the stable Remus and I asked Sirius questions. "Where do you plan on hiding next?" asked Remus.

"I don't know for sure," Sirius began, "but I'm thinking about going somewhere with a humid, tropical climate. Like a beach vacation."

Eventually the Polyjuice Potion effects started wearing off, like Sirius's gray-flecked light brown hair (that was like Remus's) started turning back into Sirius's original long, dirty dark hair. Then his face started turning waxy and white instead of Lupin's gray, tired face. His eyes became hollow next. We were walking toward a building that looked like a stable.

"You might need _this_, Sirius," said Remus, handing him the giant cloak he had been wearing. "To cover your face." Sirius took it and did so.

"Here he is," said Sirius, pointing to a magnificent white horse. "This is the hippogriff in his brilliant disguise."

"Wow!" I said. "He looks beautiful!"

"I'm sorry that you need to live this way now, Sirius," said Remus. "You know, an outlaw, always on the run."

"It's alright," said Sirius. "It's not the worst that could happen. It's much better than Azkaban anyway, right?" He chuckled darkly.

"It makes me sad, though," I began, "how you and Buckbeak did everything right, and then you take the blame-"

"It's alright, dear girl," said Sirius, patting me on the shoulder, "because _we _are the ones who know the truth, and that's all that's ever going to matter. I knew your father, you know; he was quite the courageous man."

"You knew him?" I repeated.

"Oh, yes," Sirius assured me. "He sacrificed a lot for the forces of light, you know. Even the place of being a powerful, dark wizard. He had many options, yes, since he was in Slytherin and he had remarkable talent, but he always refused to join the dark side. You know why?"

"Why?" I was curious to know.

"Because he never _wanted_ to be bad," said Sirius. "Instead he got rid of his restraint toward Muggles and eventually even fell in love with one…"

"Mum," I said softly.

"That's right, Amy," said Sirius. Then he sighed. "He was a few years above me during my years at Hogwarts- maybe six or so. He surrounded himself with some of the wrong people, even though he became close to me and Remus, and James, and even that - that- _Peter Pettigrew_." There was contempt in his voice when he said this. "But no matter. Now he's living the normal life.

"I have to leave you two now, both Buckbeak _and_ me," said Sirius, sighing. "I don't know if I'll be able to see any of you ever again, but I wish I could come back here. I also wish I could see my two beloved godchildren again, Harry Potter and Carly Perry. Keep me in your prayers and I'll keep you in mine." He pat Remus on the back affectionately. "Goodbye, Remus."

"Goodbye," Remus replied, hugging him like a brother.

"And you _too_, Amy," said Sirius, bending down and hugging me.

"Same to you, Sirius," I replied, hugging him back.

Sirius whispered something and Buckbeak turned back into a hippogriff. Sirius nodded at Remus and me one last time as he jumped onto the hippogriff and they disappeared into the starry sky.

"So how do you wish to go home?" Remus asked me. "I'm sure you don't want to board the Knight Bus again…"

"Oh, _no_," I assured him, not being able to get the nasty image of scraggly Stan Shunpike scratching his buttocks out of my head.

"Before we think of a way to start our journey back," Remus began, "let's stop at Flourish And Blotts. Maybe we can stop for a cup of tea or two." When we were at a little café inside Flourish And Blotts, the bookshop, I was curious about something.

"Remus?" I said. "What about Hagrid? Is he ever going to see Buckbeak again, or is that it?"

"It isn't _it_, Amy," he replied. "I'm sure he'll find some way to see him again. Now tell me about some things you're signing up for for your third year."

"I don't remember much," I began, "I'm not continuing Divination…I think I put down Choir again because I do love singing-"

"What a pleasant surprise," said a velvety voice. Remus and I looked up and saw Severus Snape. He wasn't wearing his black professor robes, though; instead he was wearing deep green robes with a ruff. "I didn't expect to see _you_ two here tonight. What's the occasion?"

"Just out with a friend, Severus," Remus replied. "Thank you kindly for the Wolfsbane Potion, by the way. Otherwise I would have been mad the whole year."

"What's up with Hagrid, Severus?" I asked him, not afraid to use his first name. I never was. Especially since we were out of school now.

"He's…well," said Severus, eyeing me suspiciously. "A little _too_ well, actually. Now Miss Sellick, do you know about Remus's secret?"

"Yes, Severus," I replied.

"I should have supposed so," Severus began, "since you were the only one in your class to actually finish the assignment for me. Clever girl. You inherited that trait from your father, I expect?"

"What brings _you_ here, Severus?" Remus was curious to know.

"You know I do enjoy reading, Remus," Severus replied. "When school isn't in session you can find me at bookshops…browsing through the classics…"

"Say, Severus, have you any way in mind that Amy and I can return to her home?" asked Remus. "We are rather reluctant to board the Knight Bus again and-"

"Hmm…that _is_ a difficult decision to make, isn't it?" said Snape quietly. "You should try calling home. Maybe Amy's parents can bring their car and drive you back. That is _my_ suggestion, if you don't have anything better in mind…"

"No, it's all good," said Remus. "Is there a telephone booth outside?"

"Yes," said Severus.

"Alright," said Remus. "Amy, I'm going to go outside and call your parents, alright?" I nodded. "Good," said Remus. Then he got up and left. Severus and I were just sitting there, awkwardly, not saying anything. So I broke the silence.

"How was _your_ year, Severus?" I asked.

"Preferable to the one the year before," he began, "where I had to teach alongside the dimwit."

"Gilderoy Lockhart," I guessed.

"That's right," Severus assured me.  
"I'm back," said Remus. "Filbert says he's coming soon with the car. We are sure to come back home in no time."

"That's good for you," said Severus. "Well I hoped you two have enjoyed your night…and your year at Hogwarts…Amy, see you next year."

"You too," I told him. He walked off to look at some historical novels.

"Let's go outside," said Remus, taking me by the wrist and heading outside. We waited on a bench for about ten minutes time, until my parent's car pulled up.

"Come in, come in!" exclaimed Mum. She ran out of the car, waving her arms like mad. "Let's go home!"

Remus and I took the backseat of the car. We drove home in the dark. It didn't take us as fast as the Knight Bus did, but it also didn't make us as physically sick, so I was grateful. When we got home we all ate dinner together in the exquisite dining room. Everything in Sellick Manor had to be so fancy, and I guessed it was because we were always having Cornelius Fudge over.

"How _did _you two meet again, Filbert and Charlotte?" asked Remus.

"Well," Dad began, "I was on one of my missions a few years before our Amy was born- we actually met in Scotland, even though Charlotte and I are quite English- and I fell in love with her at first sight since she was so beautiful."

"That's what he tells me to this date," Mum pointed out.

"Then we married shortly after," Dad continued, "so I didn't tell her I was a wizard until _after_ we married, so worried she would reject me. But she didn't. Instead, she stood right with me, ready to carry the burdens to be a simple Muggle in the world of cold-hearted and powerful full-blooded wizards alike."

"Dad, did you hear the new news about Sirius Black?" I asked him.

Dad gulped. "_No_!" he replied. "What?"

Remus and I told Dad and Mum about everything Remus had told me earlier. At the end of the story they realized that Sirius wasn't the criminal, and that it was Peter Pettigrew, but Dad couldn't do anything to convince the Ministry of this. But that was alright; in the end we were the only ones who needed to know the real truth.

............

Author's Note: If any of you haven't already you really need to hear the song "Sirius Black" by Tony Goldmark on YouTube! It's really cool, LOL! So that's the end of Amy Sellick And The Year Of The Werewolf. If you wish to make any comments or reviews, I am going to allow you to have that option. Go right ahead; I love criticism if it isn't too harsh! I would love to hear your thoughts about the story. And if you haven't already, read Amy Sellick And The Year Of The Basilisk too!


	8. Summaries

Chapter One: Amy Sellick goes to the Weasley house at the end of the summer and doesn't want to leave when her favorite family goes to stay at the Leaky Cauldron without her, even when she's going to see them the next day at Hogwarts. On the train to Hogwarts Amy is overwhelmed by the popular kids who want to sit with Ginny, so they leave the compartment and something strange happens- Harry Potter faints because a dreaded creature called a 'dementor' flies in and the new Defense Against The Dark Arts teacher Professor Remus Lupin fights it off. Students like Amy's superior crush Draco Malfoy dislike Lupin because of the state of his shabby robes. There are really several dementors going to be at Hogwarts since they are trying to keep mass murderer Sirius Black from getting in. On a happier note though the kindly giant Rubeus Hagrid is going to be teaching Care of Magical Creatures.

Chapter Two: Draco and his gang keep making fun of Harry since he fainted at the dementors. In Divination Professor Trelawney tells Amy that she has an unfortunate future. In Care of Magical Creatures Hagrid tells Ginny and Amy that his hippogriff is going to be in trouble since Draco insulted it in an earlier class and it attacked him. Amy tells Draco not to have his dad try and execute Buckbeak (the hippogriff), and then he thanks her for the cruel idea. In Defense Against The Dark Arts the students have to face a boggart, which shows you your worst fear. Amy's is Tom Riddle, which is weird since she would expect he'd be Ginny's, and he wasn't. After Amy fails to fight the Tom Riddle boggart, Lupin tells her he should have private lessons with her.

Chapter Three: Students begin to look past the state of Lupin's robes and think he is their favorite teacher. Lupin starts his private lessons with Amy and warns her about the possibility of her facing Lord Voldemort in the future. Professor Snape gives Lupin a potion, and Amy guesses it's poison. Ron Weasley's pet rat Scabbers keeps being chased by Hermione Granger's pet cat Crookshanks, and Harry can't go to Hogsmeade with his friends. On Halloween Amy has to use the bathroom, and runs into Sirius Black. He is trying to get into the Gryffindor common room, and slashes the portrait of the Fat Lady when she doesn't let him in. He doesn't have the password though. Amy tells the main teachers of Hogwarts about her sighting Sirius Black and no one knows how he got in. The thing that confuses Amy the most is that when she met the murderer he told her he wouldn't kill her, but someone by the name of Peter Pettigrew _would_, and Professor McGonagall says Peter Pettigrew is _dead_. Snape suspects Amy since she met Sirius and thinks she might have let him into the school.

The Gryffindors, who should be facing the Slytherins in the next Quidditch match, are now going to face Cedric Diggory since Draco, the Slytherin Seeker, has a broken arm and the team doesn't want to play in a storm. Soon Professor Lupin becomes ill for a class and Snape takes his place, making the students write an essay about werewolves. Amy learns that a werewolf's worst fear is a full moon, and when Lupin stepped in front of the boggart it transformed itself into one. Ginny doubts this, but Amy believes it.

Chapter Four: For the Quidditch match, Gryffindor versus Hufflepuff, Harry falls in the sky because the game is interrupted by several hundreds of dementors. Professor Dumbledore is really angry about this. Amy yells at Draco Malfoy since he is laughing about this, and he calls her ugly, so she cries in the bathroom for hours. On Amy's thirteenth birthday a bunch of Gryffindors give her a cake and some presents, which makes her happy. Amy gives Lupin the essay Snape assigned, and he seems uneasy. After the next meeting with Lupin Amy knows how to fight off a boggart. Amy asks Lupin if he was a werewolf and he lies and says that he was just afraid of them, so he feared the full moon too.

Amy goes to the Weasley's for Christmas. When she and Ginny want to go downstairs to listen to their father's conversations, they are appalled when they realize the two fathers are arguing over the fate of Hagrid's Buckbeak and how they feel about Lucius Malfoy. Of course Mr. Sellick is on Lucius's side since he is his best friend (but Amy disagrees) and Mr. Weasley thinks he's an evil man. Amy dislikes Lucius strongly, and his son Draco even more.

Chapter Five: On Christmas morning Mrs. Sellick learns about Sirius Black and fears for her daughter's future at Hogwarts. She gets over it soon though with the positivity from the Weasleys and the two families have an enjoyable Christmas. When they go to the Muggle pub though Amy runs into one of her old friends, who has turned arrogant and even argues with Ginny in public. When they return to Hogwarts Harry has received the Firebolt broom to replace his Nimbus 2000 broom. McGonagall needed to check the broom though just in case it was from Sirius Black (which it really is in the end, but he doesn't jinx it). Ron is terrified when he guesses Crookshanks killed Scabbers. At the next Quidditch match- Gryffindor versus Ravenclaw, Draco and his posse disguise as dementors to throw Harry off, but he isn't. After a Gryffindor victory party, Sirius Black goes into the boy's dormitory and holds a knife up above Ron, but is it really supposed to be Ron he wants to kill?

Chapter Six: Sirius Black had gotten into Gryffindor Tower since he had found Sir Cadogan's passwords (that Neville had left on the floor). Hagrid asks Ginny and Amy to come over so they can discuss Buckbeak's appeal. After receiving a letter saying the appeal was lost though Amy sneaks to Hagrid's hut by herself and repeats it to him that it was wrong Lucius had so much power. At the Gryffindor versus Slytherin match Harry wins the House Cup. Soon there are exams and finals in school though. In the middle of one of the exam days Amy sees Cornelius Fudge and the executioner, who plan on executing Buckbeak. She tries to convince Fudge not to let it happen, but he doesn't do anything.

In her Divination examination she sees many things in an orb, including a free hippogriff, a dog chasing a rat, and the same dog battling a werewolf creature. Amy goes to Hagrid's one more time before Buckbeak is executed, but goes away. When she leaves she finds Scabbers, who really isn't dead. A giant black dog chases him, like in her vision. She goes to sleep again. At the end of the year no one knows what happened to Buckbeak or Sirius Black (because they had both gotten away) and Lupin quits his job. At King's Cross Station Amy yells at Lucius Malfoy for trying to kill off Buckbeak, and Draco yells at her. When she gets home Remus Lupin is waiting for her and tells her the truth about him, Sirius, and Peter.

Chapter Seven: Amy wants to find Sirius at the Leaky Cauldron, who is using Polyjuice Potion to disguise himself as Lupin's twin. So Lupin tells her they need to board the Knight Bus, where they meet the scraggly conductor Stan Shunpike, the elderly driver Ernie, and a shockingly ugly shrunken head that speaks. When they arrive at the Leaky Cauldron Sirius takes Lupin and Amy to the stable where he is hiding Buckbeak, who is being enchanted to look like a normal horse. Sirius's disguise wears off so Lupin gives him his cloak to hide himself. Sirius and Buckbeak fly away after saying bye to Amy, and after Sirius tells Amy a little bit about her father. At Flourish And Blotts Lupin and Amy speak to Severus Snape, who asks Amy if she's found out about Lupin being a werewolf. She has. After going back home Mr. and Mrs. Sellick tell Lupin about the way they met, and then Lupin tells them the truth about Sirius.


End file.
